Diamond in the Rough
by StardustIsMagic
Summary: I shoved my way through the crowd, raising my hand as I did so, walking to the centre of the pathway. I said what I needed to say once, and only once, making sure there was no room for discussion in my cold voice. "I Volunteer." Cato/OC AU
1. No One

_"No One Knows What It's Like To Be The Bad Man, To Be The Sad Man Behind Blue Eyes. No One Knows What It's Like To Be Hated, To Be Fated To Telling Only Lies. But My Dreams They Aren't As Empty As My Conscience Seems To Be, My Love Is Vengeance That's Never Free." - Limp Bizkit; Behind Blue Eyes._

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District Two; the home of Masonry. The Capitol's favourite despite District's One greatest efforts of providing luxuries for them, and the home of winners. They glorified the Hunger Games, celebrated it, and treated it as if it were the final stretch to ultimate enlightenment. What was worse was that the people of District Two ate it up, believed it with all their might, were so narrow minded in thinking that the only way to win and become great was to slaughter other children in an arena and come home with a crown.

Throwing riches and other forms of luxuries at the Victors as if they didn't already have them, District Two may not be as rich as One or The Capitol, but they definitely were well off. It was my home, which I regrettably admit, since my young age of ten, and had not been given the chance to ever be anywhere else.

It disgusted me. Seeing young children throw their lives away, do nothing but train just so they could volunteer for a death sentence to make the District proud, oh how far our race has fallen. How materialistic and primitive we have become, and no one seems to want to notice it, we all stand around and act as if winning a crown, and having the latest Capitol clothing is the most important thing in life. I wished so badly to have been born in the times before Panem, when this old country was once known as the United States of America.

It wasn't in the slightest bit perfect, wars raged between countries over things as petty as oil, famine spread throughout other countries and allowed children to die before they had even lived. Yet they had something Panem would never have; compassion, humanity, love, and most important of all of those was unity.

Originally I had come from District Three, not very far, but the difference in culture was still very big. My father had been one of the most respected men in his field; which was Medicine. Although he was a bit of a dare devil, he often thought outside of the box, and the endless possibilities of what types of chemicals and technologies he could fuse together to make the ultimate drug that would cure every possible disease.

His talents didn't go unnoticed by the people of The Capitol, and eventually began funding his research into much more complex things, I still remember being a child and hiding near his office, eavesdropping on the conversations he would have with the Government officials. They had requested something impossible of him, something so beyond what we could achieve that it drove my father mad, it became his life's work, obsessing over it. Testing out on volunteer's over and over, no longer knowing the line between genius and insanity.

He'd gotten himself killed of course, and as much as The Capitol could try explaining it was a fatal accident, I knew better. I may have been a child, but even I wasn't stupid, my father spoke to me like an adult, treating me as an equal, and through that I grew out of the mind state of a ten year old girl. I was forced to grow up after becoming an orphan, my mother had died during child birth, something rather common in the districts as they didn't have the medical care or facilities like The Capitol did.

It didn't mean I didn't love her, my father often spoke fondly of her, sharing stories with me, and how I was a spitting image of her. My auburn hair supposedly shone just as brightly in the sunlight as it did with her, when I laughed my button nose wrinkled up just like hers did, and when I felt a strong surge of emotions you couldn't see them any clearer than when they shone through my green eyes.

"_Just like your mother Faith."_

I'd missed him beyond belief, missed the way his frowns lines would become more evident on his pale face when he concentrated on his work, missed the way his slowly greying hair would be ruffled by the amount of times he wove his hands through it, and missed the way his blue eyes softened in affection when I would ask him to sing me to sleep.

The Capitol seemed to be terrified when they had found my father had left his child behind, seemingly unaware that he had a child at all, and shoved me into the first orphanage in any District apart from Three. It only furthered my suspicions on what they may have possibly been up to, The Capitol never did anything out of the pure kindness of their hearts, it had to benefit them in some way.

So now eight years later I stand in the Town's centre of District Two, waiting in a small pen filled with girls my age, I half listen to the useless monologue that President Snow once again waffles on about as he presents the 75'th Hunger Games, revealing this years big surprise Quarter Quell. I almost wanted to scoff, the old man made me sick to my stomach, I silently wished that he would just drop dead already, pass on his 'legacy' to another idiot.

Gold Forest; District Two's escort stood in the centre of the stage, right in front of the entire town. An absolute buffoon, her long Capitolised blonde hair was no doubt the work of extensions, flowing to below her waist and perfectly straight. Along with a ridiculously large set of false eyelashes, hints of silver wisping out as if they were butterfly wings, and the small white diamonds that had been encrusted into her skin formed a small curve besides both eyes.

Her dressing attire was in another world of its own; her heels didn't actually have any, but were merely a blinding colour of silver and had a ridiculous platform, thus no needing heels. The one shouldered dress she wore was covered in rhinestones, with a silver sequence pattern at the hem, matching her make up and shoes perfectly.

"May the odds be ever in your favour."

I snapped out of my inner monologue to look back up to the large screen, realizing that it was the end of President Snow's speech and that Gold was now clapping enthusiastically, encouraging the rest of the District to do so. I rolled my eyes and folded my arms, seeming to be the only person in the area who had not made an effort with looking good today, my baggy black tank top and dark green cargo pants tucked into my boots. I had an excuse of course, just being let off from work, working in the weapons warehouse where everything was made polished and cleaned; definitely not the best paid job, but it served its purpose as it put food on the table.

I had left the orphanage as soon as I had turned sixteen, and the carer there was kind enough to help find me work and a place to stay before I did. She seemed pretty relived actually, one less child to look after, one less mouth to feed; it must have made her job a whole lot easier.

"For this years Quarter Quell we have a special surprise, something none of you District Two future victors would ever guess ..." Gold made a dramatic pause, her perky and lollipop attitude making me want to cringe, "you shall have not one, but _two_ arena's this year, joined together and made into two different environments … that should be much more exciting shouldn't it?"

The excited whispers and loud yells of approval spread like wildfire in the crowd, probably the Christmas come early for everyone here … if that holiday still existed that is.

"Now, time to get on with the tribute picking ..."

She waddled over to the right side of the stage, where the bowl full of male's names were jumbled together inside, barely able to even walk in those heels, and made a show of wiggling her perfectly manicured fingers before shoving her hand deeply into the bowl, rolling her hand around a couple of times for good measure before finally pulling her hand back out with a small piece of paper in her hands.

Unwrapping it painfully slowly, she let out a large grin as if she knew whoever's name was written on the paper, yelling it out loudly for the entire town to hear.

"The male tribute for the Seventy Fifth annual Hunger Games of District Two is ... Mico Abbeywell."

It takes quite a while for a name so familiar to register in your head; it takes even longer for the shock of them being picked for such a brutal game to settle deeper into your brain. My breath hitched in my throat, and the muscles in my back tensed up a considerably large amount, turning my head to look over at the boys sections, I managed to make out the small blob of afro curls making it's way out of the crowd, escorted my two Peacekeepers. His dark skinned face neutral, but I knew better, because I saw the absolute fear in his brown eyes, one that he was trying so hard to hide.

He was young, too young for anything like this, he hadn't even reached his teen years yet, he was no where near trained enough to come close to even qualifying for a game like this. Before he even started making his way towards the stage Gold began to speak again, dismissing the fact that he was picked, confident on there being a male volunteer, one that would come home a winner.

"Time for volunteering ..." She spoke cheerily, clapping her hands in excitement as she looked to the boys section, but no hands were raised.

No one. Not even the eldest of the Careers put their hands up, and I was desperate to know why, this was what they had trained for through their entire life, it was what they were built to know, programmed to love.

"Anyone?" Silence one again engulfed the crowd, and Gold look truly dumbfounded as she stared at the boys, ".. _really?_ None of you are going to volunteer?"

For once I was on the same wavelength as her, my heart clenching in complete anguish for Mico. The boy who lived with me, who I had bonded with so well in the orphanage that when it was time for me to leave he begged to come, pleaded until I gave up and agreed. I had raised him on my own since then, feeding him, kissing him goodbye to school every morning, he was my family.

And no one, absolutely no one was volunteering. Was this some sort of sick twisted idea that they had? That seeing a child from District Two die was more fun that always seeing a winner every year? Because if it was then the human civilisation was far more disgusting than I thought it was, if they truly found this entertaining.

I cleared my mind as Gold quickly dismissed it, moving onto the girls bowl on the left hand side, I began to think rationally of what could possibly be done. What would ensure Mico's absolute safety, and I came up with many solutions, but only one of them seemed viable to succeed. Only one that took me less than a second to know was worth it, to know that it could actually work, and although it may have seemed crazy to others, it was in fact the smartest decision I had ever made.

I never heard the name of whatever random fifteen year old girl was picked, nor did I really care, I shoved my way through the crowd, raising my hand as I did so, walking to the centre of the pathway that separate the male and female possible tributes. I said what I needed to say once, and only once, my voice loud and firm, cold and authoritive, making sure that there was no room for discussion on it.

"I Volunteer."

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**I've had this idea for literally MONTHS, ever since reading the books ... I guess that all the Cato fanfiction that's come up since the books has pushed me into doing it. I'll admit I've jumped on the bandwagon! However I did love Cato before the film, after all who doesn't love a bad boy? Although Alexander Ludwig did help in loving him a WHOLE lot more. **

**Anyway this fic is sort of alternate universe-ish, which you've probably guessed ... but I'll try to make it really good I promise! And review review review PLEASE!**


	2. Bars

_"Well I'm Terrified Of These Four Walls, These Iron Bars Can't Hold My Soul In. Show Me What It's Like To Be The Last One Standing, Teach Me Wrong From Right And I'll Show You What I Can Be."- Nickleback; Savin' Me._

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There was no one to come and bid me farewell in the Justice Building, no words of encouragement or talks on how I was destined to win, which I'm sure was what every District Two tribute usually got every year. So I wasn't all that surprised when the five minutes I had to gather myself and mull over what I had just done was quickly gone, a peace keeper grabbing me by the elbow and escorting Mico and I to the train station.

Honestly, they held onto me as if I planned on running away, when there wasn't really anywhere for me to go, and I volunteered for a reason; to get into the games. Shrugging off his hold on me I sent him a glare, silently telling him to keep his hands off of me, I doubt he found me intimidating in the slightest, but merely abided by my rules just to keep me from complaining any further, wouldn't want to make his job more difficult than it already was.

Mico held onto to my hand for dear life as we boarded the train, and I gave his hand a squeeze every now and then to reassure him that everything was going to be fine. He wasn't weak, not in the slightest, nor was he a prepared fighter for a game like this; he had only just started his training at the academy, and learnt what little I had taught him from hand to hand combat. The year before when he had only just turned twelve, he found a fascination with the way Clove, the tribute from the 74th Hunger Games, had been an absolute pro at throwing knifes.

It was the first set of training he practically jumped into, much too eager to learn how to do the exact same, and it turned out he had quite a talent for it, he learnt how to get the hang of it rather quickly, but was still not anywhere in the league of Clove.

Clove Myer's. As sadistic as it sounded she was my favourite death, mostly because she deserved it. Her blood thirsty attitude and her loss of any humanity had been one of the most disgusting things to watch, so I was rather pleased when District Eleven's Thresh and destroyed her skull with a mere rock. Such a subtle thing, so small yet so deadly, no one would have guessed that a weapon such as that would have been her downfall. Much like the story of Achilles' heel, one arrow was all it took to bring the demi-god down, something no one would have expected, it was Mico's favourite story that he often asked me to tell before he would go to sleep.

Gold ushered us into one of the train's compartment, it appeared to be a lounge of some sort, and leather couch's which looked far too comfortable surrounded a glass coffee table. Plates of every kind of cake or pastry filled it, making my mouth water terribly, the smell of fruits and fresh orange juice filled my senses also, Mico was practically bouncing on the spot ready to fill his stomach.

"Not yet." My words were very quite, but he had heard, and pouted slightly at me before sticking his tongue out.

I smiled slightly at him before playfully rolling my eyes and turning back to Gold, pretending to listen to her babbling nonsense as she spoke of each compartment of the train, explaining how mine and Mico's room's were across from each other two compartments down. She then went on to mention that our mentor's and her rooms were just before ours, meaning that they were right after this cart.

She waddled over to the couches, falling into them and releasing a large sigh, "I have been in these ghastly shoes all day, and they are _killing _me."

Then take them off you fool, was what I wanted to say but I refrained from doing so out of politeness, which shockingly enough to some I was capable of being. I led Mico to the seats across from Gold, and sat down slowly, grabbing an empty plate to fill with what ever seemed edible to Mico, and placed it on his lap softly. He leaned back comfortably into the chair, smiling contently to the rich food that was filling his taste bud's, still in his academy uniform from earlier in the day, consisting of a white polo shirt that had the District Academy's logo printed onto it, and a pair of plain black trousers that were easy to move around in.

The fear that I had once seen through his brown eyes was now replaced with a childish happiness, mostly due to the food he was getting to eat now, something I hadn't been able to provide for him in a while, and because of the guilt I felt for that I allowed him to eat to his hearts content.

His short black hair was in definite need of washing, something I would have to force him to do before meeting out mentor, a shudder of disgust went through my spine at that thought, and traces of sweat were beginning to dry up around his forehead, most likely from the nervousness of being reaped before. I refused Mico and Gold's offers of helping myself to the food, not at all willing to eat any of The Capitol's food; it was almost a taunt from them, showing us that we could only have this for a brief time before we died.

Little did they know that I had other plans, strategies in my head that I had begun forming from the moment I volunteered, Mico was going to win. I was going to make sure of that, no career tribute was going to get in my way with that, nor any other District tribute, I would do whatever necessary to keep him alive until the end, and as much as I hated killing, I would only do harm to those who would bring harm to me and Mico.

He would be fine without me of course, the Victor's Village would make sure of that, and he had friends at the academy, so he would never be lonely, and would continue on with his studies and training. The only down side to it was that he would have to relive this nightmare every time the games would come back around, forced to be a mentor and watch other children die, or win in District Two's case. I still wished for the day that District One to Four would be shown their place, that someone who would never have even been expected to make it past the Cornucopia would conquer and win, putting every single previous victor to shame. Maybe it would even lead to the end of the Games, the end of The Capitol, but these were just dreams of course, we had seen what a rebellion had led to back in the dark days; the destruction of District Thirteen.

"We'll be at The Capitol the day after tomorrow, not a long trip at all, it usually flies by anyway, with the tributes having so much fun on the trains and discussing ways to kill with their mentor's."

Gold might as well have been talking to herself, neither I nor Mico were really listening to her anyway, every year it was the same with her, the only thing that changed was her hair style, one year she had changed it to the shade of gold, and it looked worse than terrible. I had no idea how the people of The Capitol could find something like that so glamorous, or attractive, or how they could actually dye their skin a different shade, I failed to still understand how that was still medically safe. My father was the scientist, not me, so I would never attempt to understand things on such a complex level with biological substances.

"Now when you meet your mentor Cato, remember to be extremely polite … he's probably just as nervous as you are, seeing as this is his first year of mentoring."

She spoke of him like a love struck little girl, and I instantly knew she was probably one of those Capitol girls who had bought every type of 'I heart Cato' merchandise there was to offer after he'd won, her gooey eyes at the thought of him was proof of that.

Cato Valentine. I practically snorted at the irony of his surname, remembering what that old day was once used for, St. Valentines Day, a day to share with your loved one. It didn't exist anymore of course, none of those old holidays did, which was sad because they all actually meant something. Christmas; a day to celebrate the birth of a man who started a religion that was so highly followed through the world, Thanksgiving; a day to be thankful for all the things you have in life with your family, and Easter; a day to celebrate the return of Jesus, and to celebrate that he would always be the son of god.

All these little details, these small one day celebrations all added up to one big thing, a part of us that made us human, and when I looked at Cato Valentine I saw anything but a human. I was put in an extremely sour mood when he had won, especially since he didn't deserve it, he was everything you could possibly hate in a man, fame seeking and power hungry, over confident and an all around asshole.

Mico obviously hero worshipped him beyond belief, so naïve to the troubles of the world that I couldn't bear to take that happiness away from him. He watched last years Hunger Games religiously, watching Cato and Clove like a hawk, cheering and rooting for them at any point possible, and when it came time for Cato to return to the District he had sneakily skipped school to attend the welcome committee at the train station.

I wasn't too happy about that of course, especially since I got a call from the academy asking where he was, the boy nearly gave me a heart attack, thinking he had been snatched by some homeless person or something. He definitely got an earful from me that night when he returned home with a signed 'Cato to win' shirt, and was confiscated from him for next month.

The smile on his small face spread like a Cheshire cat, and excitedly looked at me as he sat up in his chair, as if expecting Cato to walk in at any moment, which by actual coincidence he did.

The compartment door leading to the bedrooms slide open, and the tall muscular man had to slightly bow his head to avoid hitting the top of the door, I don't remember him ever looking that big on Television. Gold motioned for us to stand up, and reluctantly I did so, folding my arms in the process. He sauntered in with a cocky smirk that never seemed to leave his face, even holding it after he had won the games, a facial expression he seemed to adore, and slowly made his way towards us.

"Hello Gold." His voice was firm but smooth, making Gold swoon more than she already was, and all she was doing was shamefully staring at the way his toned chest stood out considerably in his tight fitted white button up shirt. She enthusiastically gave her own greeting, before putting her hands out towards us, attempting to keep as much eye contact as she could with him.

"Cato, this is Mico Abbeywell and Faith Willow … this years tributes."

He turned to us, shoving his large hands into his pockets, his smirk leaving him to look us up and down with his scrutinizing gaze, if I wasn't mistake he almost looked appalled at what he was seeing, making my fists clench up in annoyance. Arrogant child.

"_This_ is what District Two has to offer this year?"

"Hey! I can fight! Not as good as you but I can!"

Mico's tone was defensive, yet you could sense the playfulness it in, after all he was standing in front of one of his biggest idols, and he held a huge grin as he looked up to Cato with starry eyes.

"Oh yeah? Well what can you do little man? You've barely started your training at the academy."

His tone was teasing, and his smirk soon returned to his face, flat out ignoring me in the process, I narrowed my eyes at him but continued to stay silent.

"I'm good at throwing knifes, and I've learnt some hand to hand combat … not much but it's better than nothing."

Cato grunted, slightly nodding his head towards Mico, who beamed at this, seeing it as a nod of acknowledge and approval from a higher up. His blue eyes then made contact with mine, holding no form of teasing or arrogance towards me, just a feeling of indifference.

"What about you ginger? You got any useful skills?"

I sneered at him, wanting to correct him on my colour of hair, it was _auburn_, not ginger, and although I didn't know the fool I could tell he was simply going to stick with that name because he knew it would itch at my nerves. He looked at me expectantly, as if it was mandatory to obey his every wish, I wasn't an avox, nor was I his slave, he deserved no such acknowledgement from me.

"She doesn't talk much."

Gold's voice attempted to be soothing, as if she was keeping peace within the group, and I looked at her briefly, seeing the softness in her eyes that she was directing towards me. It was as if she were telling me it was okay to speak, as if she understood my feelings of going into the games, but she couldn't possibly understand, no matter how nice she tried to be, she would be perfectly safe in The Capitol for the rest of her life, never understand what fear or hunger was ever like.

Cato snorted, his blue eyes narrowing just as much as my green ones were, challenging me to a stare off, and I would have fought back just as hard if Mico didn't touch my elbow slightly, shaking it to make me pay attention to him. His eyes were pleading, asking me to just go along with it for his sake, I sighed looking back to Cato and averting my gaze.

"If you want a chance at living ginger you need to learn to co-operate with me."

"It's _Faith_."

I corrected, seeing the satisfied smirk cross his face as I finally replied and the small sighs of contentment that both came from Gold and Mico. Releasing his hands from the confinement of his pockets he folded them, emphasizing just how toned his chest was, averting my eyes from them our eyes clashed once more, his smirk widening cockily as if he had just caught me ogling him.

I scoffed, disgusted by the idea, I wouldn't dare ever call this cretin attractive, even if my life depended on it.

"So ginger, can you fight or not?" … my silence was met with a scoff of his own, "you can't can you?" I averted my gaze, avoiding all eye contact with him; I would rather roll around in my own sick than take killing notes from him.

A disgusting scenario I know, but nothing repulsed me more at this current time that standing in the presence of Cato Valentine any longer than what was necessary. His hand went to cover his face, sliding down it in an almost stressful manor, before going back to being folded.

"What has happened to District Two Gold? We produce winners, not _this," _He used his head to motion towards me, not stopping long enough to allow Gold to answer the question, "And you're the one that volunteered? I've got my work cut out for me, if you want a chance at not dying a painful death-"

"I don't need tips on how to survive from an invalid such as yourself!"

I snapped, my voice cutting through the tension like a knife through butter, and I grabbed Mico's wrist, pushing past Cato forcefully to make my way to the other compartments, ignoring the wave and enthusiastic goodbye Mico gave him on the way out. I failed to see the satisfied and slightly impressed look that went along with Cato's smirk as I left the room, apparently gaining the reaction and motivation he had set out to see in this years tributes.

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**I actually find this relatively easy to write, just wrote it up now actually and uploaded it! Ha so I was shocked with how many hits I got off my first chapter, 146! Like wow! And quite a couple of story alerts!**

**Anina: Thank you! I'm glad you think my writing is so good :3 and I hope she reaches your expectations of a good protagonist! thank you for reviewing!**

**saiyanprincess711: Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much as my first! I'll try to update as much as possible!**

**spoiledrotten94: Haha he's just so beautiful isn't he, when I found out he was playing him I was like o.O wow, I'm gonna enjoy this film a whole lot more!**

**Thanks for reviewing guys! And come on you other readers! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**


	3. Dreams

_"This Ones For You And Me Living Out Our Dreams, We're Alright Where We Should Be, With My Arms Out Wide I'll Open My Eyes, And Now All I Wanna See Is A Sky Full Of Lighters."- Eminem Ft. Bruno Mars; Lighters. _

* * *

I pulled my hair into a high pony tail, leaving my side bangs out to frame my face a little, freshly dried from the shower I had just had on the train. As reluctant as I was to admit it, the shower had been really good, heavenly even; The Capitol knew how to live luxuriously that's for sure.

I picked the least expensive looking piece of clothing I could find in the wardrobe of my room, not very willing to wear anything Capitol made, but in order to keep clean I had to get out of my work clothes, which were dirty from the sweat of working in there all day. I had put on a plain white button up blouse, picking out a pair of plain black trousers with it, definitely cheaper than all the ridiculous frilly dressed I had found with them, and a pair of plain black ballet shoes to go with it.

Dinner the night before was extremely tense, my refusal to partake in any conversation put Mico in a hump, didn't change the fact that he was using any chance he got to fire questions at Cato about The Games and his style of training. The arrogant little child answered back with a proud grin on his face, his shoulder's squared as if it was showing off his authority. At any given chance of eye contact I made sure to give him the fiercest glare I could muster, ones I reserved for only those I loathed, which now that I think about it was pretty much the entire population of District Two, minus Mico.

I looked one more time into the bathroom mirror before leaving; scowling as I thought of the name that Cato had taken upon himself to address me as.

"My hair is _not _ginger." I muttered quietly, a bitter tone to my voice as I turned and abruptly left the confinements of my room.

I walked to the door opposite mine, knocking on it twice before waiting patiently for Mico to open it, over the years he had become more sensitive about wanting his privacy in his room, so now I had to make sure I was allowed permission until I could come in. Honestly, _permission_, like it wasn't a home that I owned, but he was a person, and I respected his wishes.

"Mico, open the door or I'll be forced to breach your privacy boundaries."

I waited a little while longer, coming up with the possibility of him being in the bathroom, but when no sound came from the other side, no possible sound of human movement, I assumed that he may not be in there, and went ahead on opening the door. As it made a slight creaking sound while opening, I stayed put at the door frame to find that his room, was in fact empty. Leaving his dirty clothing in a messy heap by the foot of his bed, I sighed and made my way in; folding the dirty clothing as placing them in a neat pile on the bed.

Our rooms were identical, a double bed in the centre, with cream silk sheets and crystal chandelier in the ceiling, the walls were a soft marble, not that I understood how they even did that on a train, the works of The Capitol I guess. Behind the headboard of the bed was a large rectangular window, allowing us to see the large landscape of Panem, not that you could for more than a second seeing as this train drove so extremely fast. To the right of the bed was a set of large mahogany double doors into the bathroom, the door knobs gold and shining as they caught the light.

It was all very beautiful, so beautiful that it made me sick to my stomach. The money they wasted on luxuries on a train, when you wouldn't spend more than a week in one, could easily go to helping the Districts be fed better, or given shelter, or warmer clothing for when winter began.

I grabbed the thin remote off of Mico's bed about to turn the television off, finding that he had left it on, but on mute. It looked as if he had been watching the re-runs of The Reapings. I sat down slowly on the foot of the bed, turning up the volume as I watched Claudius Templesmith comment on how handsome every woman in The Capitol found Finnick Odaire. The Victor of the 65th Hunger Games and a District Four mentor, waved somewhat cheerily to the camera's, flashing a large smile with his pearly white teeth, making sure to get a wink with his blue eyes before the camera focused in on their Escort.

I watched both Male and Female tributes volunteer this year, not even allowing their escort to mutter the names of those who had been picked, the first I noticed was the boy. Tall and large in build, midnight black hair that almost fell into his eyes, which were a startling bright shade of green, but it wasn't this that took me off guard, it was the sadistic and bloodthirsty grin that he held as he stepped up onto the stage, his body language confident beyond believe. Julian Donald was his name, and he seemed to wear it proudly, his chest pumping up like it did the year before with Cato's Reapings, only Cato didn't look as cold hearted.

The girl wasn't any better, arms folded and her head held high, looking at the other girls she passed snottily, and sneered at her District Partner after being introduced. Her long chocolate brown hair was tied back into a high pony tail, flowing down the back of her neck, and her brown eyes, almost dark, held no form of emotion, they were stony.

These were the eyes of people ready to kill; ready to win. I had gotten myself into a whole lot of trouble this year, but I was in no way feeling any less confident than I did before, if they wanted the victor's crown, they were going to have to pry it from Mico's bare hand, that's if they even got past me. One thing both those tributes shared was arrogance, and arrogance was not a personality trait you could afford to walk into the arena with, it could be the death of you.

I turned off the television after that, scoffing at how Claudius commented on District Four looking like the Victor District this year, supposedly following in their mentor's foot steps.

I could hear the light laughter and chatty conversations as I walked towards the dining compartment, hearing Mico's voice clearly from the other side of the door. No doubt once again asking as many questions as he possibly could to Cato, I scowled once more as I thought of the idiot, probably allowing his ego to become bigger than it already was. No silence took over the room as I walked in, quietly taking my seat to the right of Mico at the table.

"Oh Faith, how nice of you to join us."

"Hm."

My short reply to the ever cheerful Gold Forest did not dampen her spirits, and she flicked her blonde hair over her should before motioning to the pure white skin tight dress she wore, standing up to give me a small twirl, and I had the slightest theory that this little show wasn't actually for me, but for Cato. He took no interest at all, biting on a slice of toast and watching me with a little smirk, I looked to him out of the corner of my eye, before moving my gaze back to Gold.

"Do you like it? It was hand made for me!"

I nodded once, pouring a juice of orange into a glass cup, and taking my own slice of toast, spreading butter over it before taking a bite. Mico looked up at me, his hand under his chin as he leant over the table, waiting for me to speak the words that he knew I wanted to say. _Traitor_. He gave me a smug look before looking back to Cato, resuming his conversation with him, his tone more serious as he spoke about the subject I despised.

"So once we step off the podium, what's the first thing we should do?"

"The Cornucopia. Being from District Two you'll have an advantage, other tributes besides the Career's will steer clear of you, so you'll have the first chance at getting a weapon other than One and Four."

Mico nodded firmly, taking in the information that was given, storing it in a corner of his mind somewhere, never to be forgotten. He was a smart kid, good at remembering things, so when it came to pointing out the poisonous plants and the safe ones, I knew I could rely on him. He turned back to me, smiling happily before he spoke, asking for my conformation on Cato's advice.

"What do you think Faith?"

I stayed silent for a moment, I wouldn't answer of course, there was no way at all that I would be taking advice from Cato, not that it would be the best anyway, he managed to win by the scrape of his teeth, a second longer and he would have been dead. The only time he showed true skill was when he was released off his podium at the beginning, slaughtering any child that would come in his way swiftly.

"Elbows."

I nudged Mico's elbows off of the table, reminding him of his manners, he rolled his eyes before folding his arms, and I heard a snide laugh come from across the table. I looked to Cato, he looked smug in all his glory, and my eyes every so slightly flickered to the top of his chest that was exposed, due to top buttons of his shirt undone, before going back to glare at his face.

"Listen ginger, 'cause I'm not gonna keep on saying this … the kid wants my help to stay alive, if you want a chance at that too, then you gonna have you suck it up and do the same."

I snorted, not backing down from his piercing gaze and giving him a sceptical look, mocking him, taunting him, and he knew I was, making his eyes narrow even more. There was something else to, something I couldn't put my eye on, something that I wouldn't have been able to tell if I hadn't spent the last eight years of my life observing people and their emotions. For a second I thought it may have been fear, but then there was nothing for him to fear, he was out of the games, done, I dismissed it. Possibly sadness, but then again I doubted he ever felt that emotion, the boy clearly lived on a constant high with all the female and camera attention he got, he was slowly becoming the new Finnick Odaire.

Guilt. That was it. Was he actually capable of such an emotion? Did he honestly feel bad for us? Maybe even Cato Valentine didn't see the justice in a twelve year old being sent to his death, which was surely it, he must have been feeling guilty for Mico, after all I had done nothing but give him a hard time since meeting him. If he wasn't so set on hiding something as simple as an _emotion_ I may have felt bad for being in a sour mood with him, but that was just it, he wasn't showing anything, I was just too nosy for my own good.

I never understood why some people thought it was weak to show your emotions, I thought it was the opposite actually, that if you did openly show how you felt, that you were twice as brave for doing so. I wasn't talking about hysterically crying or anything, but small things like showing you feel guilty for a child competing in a death match? What was so hard about showing that? It wasn't as if Mico was relying on him to be strong, that was my job, one I planned on doing very well.

There was one other time however, when Cato actually showed a crack in his emotionless wall; Clove's death. I remembered it so clearly now, remembered how it took me off guard, how his voice cracked ever so slightly while he held the dying omen in his arms, begging her to stay alive. That one time, where he showed the slightest bit of humanity in him, that small inkling that maybe he did feel something.

It was easily forgotten after, since he murderously charged into the forest, bloodthirsty and anger filled, ready for a fight to the death with Thresh, adding a sickening grin just for good measure. One that made shivers run down my spine, it was so disturbing to watch, yet you couldn't take your eyes off it, like moths to a flame. That was the most brutal and viscous of all fights to watch, it went on for so long, it was the final stretch, the grand finale of the 74th Hunger Games, one that Cato barely won.

It had been a very close call, a fight that had lasted for so long that even I got worn out watching it; it became unbearable, but so hard to look away from. I'll tell you now it wasn't a good look, practically being outdone by a poor District, one that held no Career's or training academy, and in my eyes he practically beat Cato.

"Faith.. ?"

I snapped my head to Gold, her soft questioning gaze was centred towards me, along with Mico's worried one and Cato's expectant one, only realising that I had completely zoned out after Cato's statement, and I may have just been having my own inner monologue while staring into Cato's eyes the whole time. Yes, perfect Faith, just another thing he'll add onto his list, thinking you're attracted to him.

"What?"

My tone was soft, and low, no indication of animosity or coldness, just curiousness over what they wanted me to answer. Cato let out a small laugh, before he rolled his eyes and took another bite of toast, his mouth wide open while he chewed, not a very pleasant sight.

"What do you think Faith? He did win, he'll be a lot of help for us, and we need his advice!"

Mico was starting to beg now, and it was for two reasons; one because he didn't want to be embarrassed in front of his idol, but the second was most important, because I could tell in his eyes that if he took on all the advice Cato gave him, it would give him a sense of security, safety that he had a chance of winning.

I let out a reluctant sigh, looking to Cato with a defeated look; once again the power of Mico's innocent eyes had gotten to me, "Fine. You can mentor Mico, but it doesn't mean I'm going to take on board any advice you give to me."

Gold clapped her hands together in happiness, glad of the sort-of-truce I had made with our mentor, while a large grin spread across Mico's face, and he looked to Cato giddily. Cato sent him a wink back, a satisfied smirk on his face, which he wasn't afraid to make bigger every time we made eye contact for the rest of breakfast.

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	4. Lights

_"One Hand In The Air For The Big City, Street Lights, Big Dreams All Looking Pretty, No Place In The World That Can Compare. Concrete Jungles Where Dreams Are Made Of, There's Nothing You Can't Do, These Streets Will Make You Feel Brand, And Big Lights Will Inspire You. " - Alicia Keys; Empire State Of Mind Part Two._

* * *

"No."

"Faith, come on … we do not have much time we're practically already at The Capitol!"

"No."

Gold huffed, stomping her foot on the ground like a child, and I stared back at her defiantly, she can force me into doing my hair up a little, she can force me into putting on a little make up to make my skin look fresh, but she will not ever in the history of Panem force me into a dress such as that.

A childish glare fixed itself on her face, one hand on her hip while the other held a dress by a hanger, burning my eyes like it was a gate way to hell. She looked fluster, her cheeks becoming red and contrast against her outfit a great deal, her ridiculously long blonde hair was curled perfectly, and she work a silver corset, matching it with a tutu, never in my life had I met someone so ridiculous.

She had been quite toned down in terms out clothing since we had been on the train, but now that we had reached her home she was back to looking extremely over the top and slightly comical. The dress she held in her left hand was simple really, it was black, and looked as if it would stick to my body like a second skin, the straps looked as if they would go around your neck instead of your shoulders.

If she thought for a second that I would even stop to consider considering wearing the dress than she was more stupid than I thought, I knew her aim of me wearing the dress, and believe me I would not bow down to these materialistic overly dramatic Capitol crowd. I don't care what District I'm from, I don't care if they expect me to jump out of the train and dive into the awaiting crowds screaming for kill, there was no way I was wearing such a revealing dress.

I flicked my bangs out of my eye sight, the only thing Gold had left out when she had put my hair up in a simple elegant bun; I actually thought it was quite nice, until I found out the motives with the hair style.

"Faith it's perfect, there's going to be so much press coverage at the station … you'd be able to make an impression even before the Chariot rides!"

I knew what that translated to, she was basically telling me that because of how hopeless she thought I was in terms of fighting that I would need to look as good as possible, earning sponsors anyway I could.

"No."

"Oh my word! Just put the damn dress on child!"

I had to fight the urge to laugh, Gold losing her temper was the most amusing thing I had found throughout this entire trip so far, her nostrils flared and her entire face turned red, adding another couple of stomps for good measure.

"What is going on in here?"

My bedroom door had been left open thanks to Gold, and now I silently cursed her for it, I did not want an egotistical child in my room encouraging her. He was dressed in a smart suit, one that looked similar to what he wore at his interviews last year, light grey trousers and a matching blazer, with a white button up shirt that was clearly to tight for his chest. What an attention seeker.

"Faith refuses to wear the dress; I told her it will help her with the coverage!"

He looked at the silly excuse for clothing in her hand, his face void of emotion, before he looked back up to me, staring at me for a few seconds, and I stared back. It wasn't one of our usual glares or sneers that we directed towards one another, but just a simple clash of the eyes. For a second I thought maybe he understood why I didn't want to wear, and could possibly find out somewhere deep in his stone heart to back me up, but I should have known that was a long shot.

"Just wear the damn dress."

My eyes narrowed then, and I crossed my arms over the cream silk rope I wore, turning my head away from him to look in another direction. I was not being beaten in this, I would wear my reaping clothes if I had to, I could not conform to this stupid style of clothing.

"No. I will not become a sexual object just for those idiots to take an interest in me."

Cato scoffed, pulling the dress out of Gold's hands and throwing it in my direction, by reflex I caught it, looking at the small outfit disgusted, this wouldn't even reach my knees.

"Stop being so melodramatic, it's not like she's asking you to walk out naked."

I didn't answer him, still averting my gaze from the both of them, deciding that I found my bare feet much more interesting that his piercing blue eyes. They may have managed to get Mico in a snazzy looking suit, a plain black one that looked rather adorable on him, but they would not get me in this dress, at least Mico's outfit covered every inch of his skin.

"Put the dress on."

"No."

His sharp footsteps made their way towards me, and his six foot figure towered over mine, green eyes clashed with blue as we glared at each other, and the only reason I pushed my disgust of out close proximity away was because I was determined to win this argument. I could smell the musky scent of his aftershave, and if I were a nicer person I would have allowed myself to think that it smelt rather nice, suiting his personality in the over confident aspect.

His head dipped down, our faces less than an inch apart, knowing just how uncomfortable it made me to be within such a close range with him. A sick smirk etched its way onto his face, and when he spoke it came out as a whisper, coming out almost seductive, yet I could sense the threatening under tone to it.

"Put it on, or I'll force you to."

A small shiver went down my back, completely undetectable to anyone other than me but it still felt so strong, I felt the hairs in the back of my neck rise up, his breath tickled my face and I had to remind myself to pay attention to his words.

He drew back soon enough, taking my bewildered face as one of fear from his threat, smirking even more he watched as my eyes soon narrowed, snapping myself out of the daze, and stomped my way into the bathroom to change. Muttering little insults towards him and Gold as I changed, struggling a great deal, I didn't understand why it had to be so tight; I was sure that if I pulled any harder on it to force it down my body that it would rip somewhere.

If I wanted to suffocate I could have just shoved a plastic bag over my head, I wasn't even sure what the material of this dress was, only noting that it was slightly stretchy, at least it wasn't latex. I grimaced as I looked at myself in the mirror, god I looked so ridiculous, like a Female Escort or something, and I didn't mean in the same profession as Gold. I was going to die of embarrassment when walking off the train; hopefully they didn't even notice me and just concentrated on snapping photos of Cato's arrogant self.

I felt the train skid to a stop, and my heart beat sped up twice as fast as it already was, but this time it wasn't out of anger, it was out of sheer nervousness and fear. I was one step closer to my inevitable death, one step closer to becoming a Capitol toy. I opened the door, stepping out reluctantly, my bare feet padding softly against the cream carpet floor, wringing my hands together as I looked at Cato's blank expression.

"See? It wasn't complete torture was it?"

I didn't say anything, as I looked to the vacant spot of where Gold once stood, probably running off the fix her make-up in a rush, panicking over the fact I had messed it up. Cato held out a pair of black heels to me, most likely receiving them from Gold, and I sighed, defeated, as I took them from him, my dignity completely destroyed.

They were no were near as high as Gold's shoes, but they were definitely big enough to need a platform, and were a simple plain black. I turned my back on Cato, walking over to the vanity table to help support myself as I put them on, slightly wobbling, I had never walked in a pair of heels in my eighteen years of living, I was more than positive that I would fall. I heard a snort of laughter come from behind me, wanting more than anything to just shove my fist into his nose, and break it beyond repair.

"You're absolutely useless."

I though for a second that he was talking about me trying to stand in the shoes, until he briskly walked up to stand behind me, pulling me up by the shoulder, and I looked into the reflect of the mirror on the vanity table to see that he wasn't looking at me, but shaking his head as he looked at my back.

"Can't even zip yourself up."

I wasn't even aware of me having a zip, leading me on to realise that I had been exposing my back to the idiot this entire time, my cheeks now reddening in embarrassment. There was possibly no way that I could humiliate myself any more than I already had, my pride had been torn to complete shreds, thanks to the egotistical parasite behind me.

His hands were gentle, too gentle for my liking, because they coaxed a reaction that I didn't like having, and confused me on whether it was disgust or pleasure. Pleasure, the idea of him causing such a feeling inside me was enough to make me feel sick, and I closed my eyes tightly to rid the feeling away. One hand rested in between my shoulder blades, while the other I assumed did my zip up, and he seemed to be doing it rather slowly, probably knowing that it would irritate me more.

The cries and cheers of The Capitol people reached my ears, alerting me of just how real this was starting to feel. I probably looked like a deer caught in head lights right about now, the only moment I would get to show just how worried I was feeling without Mico knowing, my only moment alone, well as alone as I would be able to get from now on. My hands started wringing themselves together; the only nervous habit I had created over the years, one I couldn't seem to shake off, it was much easier stopping myself from chewing my finger nails off.

"It'll be less than five minutes."

Wait. Was that his attempt at reassurance? I looked into the mirror to see him slightly grimacing, as if the idea of making someone feel better was repulsive, or looked so out of his league. One hand rested on my shoulder, no pressure was added to it, I felt light, making me realise that he was trying to make me feel less pressurised, seeing as his hands were so large. We held eye contact in the mirror for a few more seconds, before he averted his gaze, his expression going back to one of indifference, and removing his hand.

I straightened up, hearing the faint calls of my names down the hall from Gold and Mico, telling us to hurry up; I turned around and looked at Cato briefly, a smirk once again falling into place. Like he was getting camera read, his pose made all perfect for when the camera's took a shot of his face, and slightly fixed his shirt collar in the mirror before looking back to me.

His eyes moved down to my arm, and he reached out with one hand to flick my wrist, I looked down to it, realizing that I still had my bracelet there, if you could even call it that.

"Nice bracelet."

His tone was as sarcastic as ever, clearly stating how ugly he thought it was, and maybe it wasn't as glamorous as what you usually see, but it held a lot of meaning to me. It was a simple bracelet, completely made of leather, nothing special of course, just black, something I had received from my father when I was very young, explaining to me that my mother had made it when she was pregnant with me.

I didn't let his words get to me, and I had to mentally fight the urge to scowl at his stupidly perfect face. Before a smirk of my own made it's way onto my face, my small hand went up to flick his forehead, momentarily catching him off guard before a questioning gaze quickly crossed his face.

"Nice receding hairline."

The look of pure horror from his expression almost made me want to laugh, instead my smirk only got bigger, and he roughly pushed past me to take a closer look in the mirror. I kept fighting the urge to laugh as I exited my room, hearing his growl coming from behind me, his foot steps quickened as I heard him exit after, and I tried to speed up as much as I could in these god forsaken heels.

"Very funny Ginger."

He wasn't far behind, but I allowed myself to finally smile, happy that I had gotten one over him. We reached the lounge room quickly, seeing Gold pacing impatiently by the exit, waiting for us to join her. Mico's mouth visibly dropped open at my attire, pointing in my direction, trying to find the right words, since he had never seen me wear a dress a day in my life.

"You- you got her to wea-"

"Shut it." I said, closing the subject matter.

"Someone just needed to show the brat some authority." Cato patted himself on the chest, as if expecting a round of applause.

"Your input is not needed child."

He ignored my dig, still grinning proudly at the fact he had gotten me in a dress, and squared his shoulders as he stalked past me, ruffling Mico's short hair as he did. Mico turned to quickly follow him, and reluctantly I did too, standing to Cato's right by the door nothing could have prepared me for what awaited on the other side.

Gold was the first to step out, slowly waiting for the peace keepers to push the raging crowds back, giving us a path to walk through in the station; she smiled so dazzlingly and then motioned for Cato to follow. Raising both hands in the air he whooped, making the crowd go insane for him, women screaming constantly while men yelled at him to make a pose for their cameras. Lights flashed everywhere, almost blinding me, and I used one of my hands to shield my eyes from it, the other holding onto Mico's as we stepped out, mostly for my benefit in case of falling over.

Separating out hands Cato wedged himself in between us, one arm resting around Mico's shoulder while the other wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him than necessary, I had to keep from rolling my eyes at the suggestive looks he gave some girls in the crowd, making them swoon over his figure. Definitely the new Finnick Odaire.

He stopped us briefly, turning both Mico and I towards a few camera men, snapping countless photo's of us as while I continued to shield my face with one arm, I couldn't even think about what to do with all the screams and flashes, making my head hurt uncontrollably, how any victor could do this year in year out was a wonder.

"Just fucking smile you moron."

My whipped to Cato, who had whispered the words so quietly in my ear and to anyone else it would have seemed like a seductive gesture, but I could clearly hear the irritated tone in his voice. His hand squeezing around my waist as it moved to rest on my hip. His smirk never left his face, showing that he was determined to keep up the image in front of the camera's, I plastered on a fake smirk myself, leaning forward slightly as I moved to whisper in his ear.

"If your hand doesn't move itself from my waist, I'll make sure you can never use your reproductive organs again."

I moved my head back to gauge his reaction, and he let nothing on, only smiling and laughing good naturedly, showing just how good of an actor he could be in front of the camera's, the press going wild and snapping more photo's than necessary. Mico waved enthusiastically to the camera's, blowing a few kisses to the women; making them coo at how cute he looked.

Cato did nothing but tighten his grip on my hip, to the point where it was beginning to feel painful, and I did nothing but smile widely at him, turning to the cameras, my hand moving up to rest on his shoulder, making anyone think I was trying to support myself as I stood. My own small hand clamped down on him, trying to cause as much pain as I possibly could, and it seemed to have some effect, seeing as his shoulders tensed slightly.

"Ladies and Gentlemen this years victors!"

His deep voice echoed throughout the station, speaking with so much confidence and reassurance, but with a threatening undertone, as if daring someone to disagree, the crowd began to cheer and scream louder than before, not that I even thought it was possible, as if they already thought we had won. I knew who his statement was directed at, making sure he said it in front of live television and in front of newspaper journalists, it was for everyone to know, and most importantly towards the other tributes.

And it did nothing but worry me.

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**Another chapter yaaaaaay! Lol, I've got almost a thousand hits for the entire story! My jaw literally dropped! If I've got than many people reading then why are none of you reviewing! It's really saddening! Come one one small comment on what you think about the characters and chapter wont hurt, it really does make me so happy! And thank you to those two reviewers who have done every chapter, it means a lot! **

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	5. Wish

_"I'll Spread My Wings And I'll Learn How To Fly, I'll Do What It Takes Till I Touch The Sky And I'll Make A Wish, Take A Chance, Make A Change And Breakaway. Out Of The Darkness And Into The Sun, But I Wont Forget All The Ones That I Love And I'll Make A Wish, Take A Chance, Make A Change And Breakaway."- Kelly Clarkson; Breakaway._

* * *

I hate The Capitol, I hate its people, I hate their hair colours, I hate their audacity to practically skin me alive, I hate their criticism over the fact my hair is _auburn_, and I hate this room. This silly make up room. Mirrors on every single wall, like Capitol people couldn't get enough of looking at themselves, they covered the room from ceiling to floor, and only one wall held a long dressing table filled with products that I could only imagine did countless things.

I was in a sour mood as it was, being forced to lay down as they waxed every piece of hair they could find on my body, rinsed me down like I had some sort of contagious disease, and brushed through my hair so many times that I was sure I hardly had any left. It felt like being strip searched or something, and I had to hold my tongue many times while my legs were being waxed, I was ready to punch someone by then.

Such silly procedures going towards something, honestly it didn't even matter what I looked like, it still didn't change the fact that I would be dead in the next few weeks, along with twenty two other tributes. Such miniscule things mattered to these materialistic people, just because your skin was pink, or your hair was green, it didn't necessarily make you a beautiful person, the value of inner beauty had been lost so long ago to The Capitol, and the Districts between One and Four for that matter.

I sat in a chair facing the dressing table, my skin still stinging, yet undeniably soft, I didn't understand how they could even pull that off, and the comfortable white bathrobe I wore was the only piece of clothing I had on. No make up artist or stylist was going to pry this thing off of me; they'd get a broken nose for even trying, no more violating my body. I had been humiliated enough.

I glared at the door in the reflection of the mirror, as if daring someone to walk in and disrupt my thoughts, ready to spit whatever snide comments I could at what stylist they threw at me this year. If I could find a way to skip this god forsaken chariot ride then I would have done just that, but I saw the warning glare I had gotten from Cato, and I knew if it came down to it he would spend every waking moment with me until the chariot rides just so he knew I would attend, such a conceited self obsessed moron.

It's not like the chariot rides mattered anyway, we all know that District Four is the favourite this year, thus getting every single sponsor there was to offer. Mico possibly had a chance, that whole cheeky cute look he had when getting of the train definitely worked in his favour, and the emotionless wall he put up when being reaped was bound to give off some impression that he could be dangerous. The fact he was District Two was a bonus already, but me, hell I couldn't even bring my self to smile at anyone in this City since I'd arrived, and even if I tried I'm pretty sure it would have come out as a grimace. I just couldn't do it, I couldn't stare at one of them for more than ten seconds and take them seriously, it was mentally impossible for me.

The front door slammed shut, alerting me that someone had entered, and I jerked my head up away from where my chin rested on my hand, looking to what disaster had finally walked through.

I wasn't going to lie, she actually didn't even look that bad, her hair was a platinum blonde, with the tips of it died into a rainbow colour, and it settled perfectly on her shoulders in curls. She wore a matching knee high rainbow dress, which sort of sparkled as it caught the light in the room and bounced off of each mirror, while each heel she wore sported two different shades of purple. It could have been worse, much worse, but I guess it was due to me building up this woman who looked like some multicoloured Dodo in my head.

She didn't smile, or glare, her face was a blank canvas, and her plump lips were coated in soft pink lipstick, while her brown eyes were covered in black eye shadow. I stared at her impassively for a while, not allowing any emotion to seep through into my face, reusing the expression I had had on when volunteering. She took in my appearance, as if seeing me for the first time, looking at my red hair as it cascaded past my shoulders, still slightly wet from the hose down I had received previously, and my now newly scrubbed and soft face was as pale as it ever was.

After a few moments she nodded in approval, grunting before she walked towards me, extending her arm for me to shake, I took it, standing up as I did so, and firmly shook it.

"I'm Karina, and I'll be your stylist until you enter the games."

Simple and straight to the point, no sugar coating or ass kissing, and I was starting to dislike her a little less than I did before. She folded her arms, circling me for a few moments before coming to stand in front of me, her arms folded with one hand resting on her chin, her red nails tapping slightly as if she were thinking of what traumatising outfit to throw on me.

I didn't give my name, mostly because I thought she already knew it, and the fact that she hadn't asked yet allowed me to keep on assuming such. She made eye contact with me for a second, before releasing her arms and resting them on her hips, a hard look on her face as she spoke.

"Every year I'm given a stupidly over confident tribute, one that I have to dress in an outfit that emits the exact aura, but I don't get that from you Faith ..." She paused, taking in my facial expression before she carried on, "In fact, when watching your reaping, I got a completely different aura from you."

She circled me again, only to stop right behind me to look at my reflection in the mirror, and smirked, not sadistically or spitefully, it didn't even seem like she was smirking at me, but more of a previous memory.

"Clove had to be the worst female I had ever worked with, completely adamant in looking like a winner, but you Faith, you don't hold a facial expression or aura that states you're going to win."

"Well what does it state?"

I was getting slightly irate, my brows furrowed a little as I urged her to just get to the point already, so I could begin the painful protest of what they called a make over here.

"Yours said something so much bolder, so much more braver and admirable without even speaking a word," She paused once more, a small smile spreading across her lips as she watched me become more impatient, "yours said that you were ready to die, and that it wouldn't end without a fight."

Well. I didn't expect _that_ to come out of her mouth, she actually seemed like she had a brain, and an intelligent one at that, and I found any dislike I might have had for her disappear. Slowly but surely, I allowed the first human emotion to show through with a Capitol member, and a wide smile began to take over my face, I even allowed a short chuckle as I looked at her in the mirror.

"I like you Karina."

She grinned widely at my statement, resting both her hands on my shoulders and speaking close to my ear, as if telling me the most surprising secret she had heard in a long time, an excited look crossing her beautiful features. I found myself thinking that if she had lived back in District Two, I might have even considered her a friend, or at least someone I enjoyed conversing with on a regular basis.

"Now, let's make you a warrior."

The make over process wasn't as disastrous as I thought it would be, both Karina and I stayed silent throughout it, her three little minions doing most of the talking, all matching bright red hair, and their names were all so ridiculously similar that I didn't know which one was which. They were all identical triplets, and seemed to never get tired of hearing each others voices, Karina often sent me a playful roll of her eyes whenever we caught each others gaze in the mirror, but they did seem to listen to her rather well.

Karina's tone and commands were soft, yet the authority was so clearly there, she didn't even need to request something twice, all three girls were there when she asked, and seemed to idolise her a great deal. She didn't seem that old, not that I bothered asking, possibly late twenties, but apparently that was considered extremely old to the triplets. They criticised the other stylists a great deal, explaining how District Twelve's stylist was bound to get the boot in the next couple of years, seeing as she was supposedly reaching her mid thirties, and to them that seemed like the end of the world.

They all concentrated on one area of my body, all managing to gossip a great deal without a hitch in their work. Savanna seemed to be curling my hair, her eyes never leaving the curlers, yet her mouth was constantly moving, and the same went for her sister Montanna, who bent just beside my face concentrating on my make up, while the last triplet Alanna would give me a manicure and pedicure, looking at it as if it were a piece of art. Heck, I wasn't even sure if I had gotten their names in the right order, they were so preppy and loud and identical in appearance that I'm sure even they got confused.

Karina constantly walked in and out during this entire process, bringing small accessories, or some form of make up they needed, she was so in control, so level headed that I actually wondered if she originated from The Capitol.

When my hair had been completely done in tight fitted curls, Savanna then began to put it into some sort of low bun, over-lapping curls and adding in gold pins, making it look slightly loose, but so elegant at the same time. A few of the smaller curls were left out on the side to frame my face a little, and I couldn't help but feel slightly pleased with the finishing look of it, simply because it wasn't outrageous or ridiculous. Savanna looked more than pleased with herself, her red hair bouncing on her shoulders and she clapped gleefully, proud of the finishing touches.

For someone who had spent hours on my nails I was surprised with how simple Alanna had made them, quietly commenting on how dirty and broken they apparently were I shot her a glare, instantly shutting her up. It was perfectly clear, only having a white tip, not too long, but not short either, I made a mental note to cut them off before I entered the games, I wouldn't want them getting in the way of me fighting for Mico's life.

Montanna was the one to finish last, and looked by far the smuggest with her end product, like I was some sort of object; I had silently decided that I may just like her the least. She folded her arms obnoxiously, giving me a sceptical look as I looked at myself in the mirror, and I had to fight the frown of what she had done to me. Giving me long black eyelashes, which felt heavy when I blinked, like when I was extremely tired and fighting to stay awake, and I couldn't possibly wear these until after my interviews in a week; that was impossible. She had also added on two different colours of liquid eyeliner, the inner colour being gold, but not too obvious while the layer on top of it was much thicker and extended to give an Egyptian look was black.

She had fixed my cheek bones with only a light pink blush, giving it a fairly soft look, and my lips were coated in a very pale, but very sparkling lip gloss, and apparently would last the whole night. It felt weird, I didn't like it, and even though the makeup wasn't actually that bad, I refused to thank Montanna for it, wanting to be a little spiteful towards her attitude. When she realized I would do no such thing, she huffed and turned around, stomping to the dressing table to probably touch up her own bright red lipstick to match her ridiculous hair.

"Well, don't you look a vision?"

Karina walked into dressing room once more, kicking the door closed with her foot as she went, her hands holding up what appeared to be a dress very high off the ground, and very carefully as if it were a piece of glass. All three sisters crowded around her, gushing of how wonderful they thought the dress was, which I had yet to properly see, and began to ass kiss her on how wonderful her styling talents were. She hushed them quickly, softly pushing past them to stand next to my seat, once again looking into the mirror and speaking to me.

"Isn't this lovely? I thought of it as soon as I saw you volunteer."

It was pure white robe, and from what I saw when it hung off the hanger, it was a one shoulder dress, flowing in a very beautiful way, it was simple, yet so bold at the same time. Instantly then I began to realize what theme she had gone for; the Greeks, the gown she had picked was a Toga, a gown Greek royalty would have worn. Well this certainly was different from the past costumes she had dressed District Two in; it wasn't as bold, which made me slightly embarrassed in thinking that she had that much belief in me standing out. The hem and stitching of the dress was also a startling gold fabric, one that looked extremely beautiful with the dress, it almost felt too beautiful for me to wear.

It was a dress I had to step into, and Karina softly pulled it up my frame, making it settle perfectly, pinning the one shoulder strap together with a beautiful and startling golden broach, it stood out remarkably as it was quite large. In shape of a large leaf, and a simple golden ribbon was placed just under my bust, appearing to already be stitched to the pure white dress, but was used to tie at the back, making my chest look bigger than it actually was, something I was silently smug about.

It flowed right down the floor, completely covering my feet, and I had a feeling I would be holding it off of the ground the whole way through in fear of making it dirty, Karina definitely had done a wonderful job this year.

The entire room was silent as I watched myself in the mirror, and for the first time in my life I felt beautiful, letting it completely show with my bewildered expression in the mirror. Karina softly laughed beside, squeezing my shoulders in a comforting manor, and smiled proudly at me in the mirror.

"Don't look so surprised, it's not everyday I get an auburn haired beauty from District Two."

She winked at me, before she turned around to the triplets, taking the light brown Gladiator sandals out of one of their hands, and waited for another to pull my dress up from the floor. In my daze I allowed them to place them on my feet, still looking at my reflection in the mirror, barely noticing the golden earrings they placed on me, along with one single ring, which had a pure white pearl placed in the centre of it.

The last accessory they added was one I'm sure they were all waiting to do, something even I would have been dying to be present for. A Greek toga wasn't complete without a crown after all, and it definitely did not disappoint, seeing as it was the probably the most valuable thing I had ever worn, and shined the most out of every piece of jewellery I wore.

It was a circle of pure golden leaves, looking to be linked together in a thick golden branch, a crown I had only imagined wearing since I was a child, I felt so unfit for such a thing. They placed it softly above my head, letting it rest there, and it felt so light, something so big and beautiful felt as if it were a feather on my head. I turned around to Karina, slightly surprised with how easy it was to move around in my outfit, and smiled at her, silently thanking her for all she had done, she smiled back proudly, happy with how it had turned out, and she deserved to.

"Oh, one more thing!"

She walked back to the dressing table, pulling something out of her small rainbow coloured clutch purse, before turning around and walking back to me, with one hand she pulled my wrist up, wrapping my old leather bracelet around it. I had completely forgotten it, it had been taken from me when I had been hosed down, and Karina had actually been nice enough to retrieve it for me. Although it looked slightly out of place with the gold and white colours, I was in no way getting rid of it, because it defined who I was, and what District I was really from.

"Can't have you on the Chariot ride without your token, can we?"

I only nodded my head, giving a tight smile to the triplets as the continued to stare in wonder at my gown, looking slightly envious, and my bet was that they would probably go and have the exact same dress made for them selves after the games had finished.

Once again an irritating voice had to interrupt my moment and completely ruin my mood, only this time I was slightly thankful, because it had brought me back to reality. Cato didn't even bother knocking on the door; he only pushed it open forcefully and sauntered in, smirking towards Karina as he came in, he looked at me for the briefest moment, his face once again completely blank as he took in my gown, our eyes connecting for a millisecond before returning his smirk back to Karina.

"Must you take an eternity with making her look beautiful? I know it's a difficult task but we have a chariot ride to get started."

Karina only snorted at his remark, ignoring him as she turned back towards me, grinning and extending her hand for me to take. I was hesitant in taking it, but finally decided to do so, otherwise I would look completely rude, especially after all she had done for me. I ignored Cato's presence as he walked behind us down many halls, soon reaching an elevator that would take us one floor down to where we would board the chariots.

In those few seconds I had to myself in the elevator, I spent it scolding myself, feeling slightly disgusted with how I had fawned over something as silly as a dress, admiring it so stupidly, when it was a dress to present me as a toy to the Capitol, someone they would have forgotten about in merely a month when these games were over. I had to snap out of this, focus on my real task, I wasn't her to bathe myself in the luxury clothing and food that The Capitol would throw at me, and as wonderful and humble as she was I couldn't allow myself to become so mesmerized with Karina's clothing style again.

I walked into the open area of where the other tributes were dressed and standing by their chariots, some listening to their mentors as they were briefed on what to do, others rolling their eyes as if they were better than the advice. The obnoxious looks mostly came from District Four and One, both tributes from One were dressed in large silver ball gown clothing, small jewels and diamonds completely covering both their outfits, it was too much for my liking. Four went for a much more different look, as both tributes were undeniably good looking, yet still had that aura of danger around them, they were dressed in fishnet clothing, overlapping the nets and creating long sleeves, showing just enough skin to deem them attractive, yet covering just the right amount to get the point of across of them not just being sexual objects, both also held silver tridents in their hands, large ones that they held firmly and proudly.

I averted my gaze from both of them, walking towards Mico and his own stylist, a man who was dressed in all black, but with a dark blue hair that fell in his eyes, he appeared to be a relatively quite man, and stood beside Karina in a respectful manor as he listen to both Cato and her speak. His name was Drew apparently, and muttered a quite hello when he was introduced to me, Mico seemed to be rather taken with him, and I couldn't necessarily blame him, he seemed to be hard to dislike.

I could already tell Mico wasn't as pleased with the Toga costume as I was, his one stopping just at the knees, revealing his skinny legs, the only thing that seemed to redeem himself was the small golden sword that had been sheathed in a belt by his waist, he held onto to the handle with his right hand, as if to make sure every other person saw it.

Most of Cato's advice was directed towards Mico, seeing as he was the easily likable tribute out of us, and basically only told him to make sure he made eye contact with as many Capitol people as possible, giving them the biggest grin or wave he could muster. We all knew I wasn't capable of such a thing, so when the time came around for us to the board the Chariot, he gave me one knowing look, sighing slightly as if he knew his attempt was futile.

"Just try to seem likable, sometimes the quite indifferent personality works ... sometimes it doesn't."

I was a little hurt that he lacked so much faith in me, but then again I hadn't really given him any reason to have any in me, I didn't plan on smiling at any Capitol member when I got out there. I didn't answer him, and turned around to smile at Mico lovingly, he gave me a cheek grin back, looking just as excited as he did before we left the train, and I took my hand in his bending over to give him a soft kiss on his forehead, his dark skin contrasting against his white Toga beautifully.

"You ready soldier?"

"I was born ready Sergeant."

I grinned at his reply, a little motto we had used for years, and would use whenever the occasion called for it; I just hoped this wasn't the last time I got to use it with him. We both stepped up onto the Chariot, wobbling slightly as we adjusted our weight onto it, and I held tightly onto his hand, never intending on letting go until this entire ordeal was over and I could go to bed. I looked back to Cato one last time, he stood beside Karina, Drew and Gold, smirking as he was most likely thinking up one last snide comment before I went.

"Just don't traumatise the crowd with your scowling face."

I absentmindedly tucked a curled stranded of hair behind my ear, only looking at him briefly before I spoke to him in a monotone, "You know Cato, if you spent all that time you waste insulting me on yourself, you might not be losing your hair and increasing the size of your forehead."

A loud bark of laughter was released from Karina's mouth, and I smirked towards her as she gave me a thumbs up, still laughing she waved us off as the Chariots began moving, and I took in a deep breath, bracing my self for the onslaught of screams and cheers for my inevitable death.

* * *

**Wow ... I have almost two THOUSAND hits on this story! Like wtf? How can one story be read that many times? Seriously people, WHERE ARE YOU ALL? You're all anonymous readers or something! Haha, anyway the last chapter was actually pretty successful in terms of reviewing! I hope that carries on? ^_^**

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**And that ladies and gentlement, concludes chapter five ... you want another update? You know what to do ... REVIEW! **


	6. Night

_"When She Was Just A Girl She Expected The World, But It Flew Away From Her Reach, Life Goes It Gets So Heavy And In The Night The Stormy Night She Closed Her Eyes, And Dream Of Para Para Paradise." - Coldplay; Paradise. _

* * *

"Wow." I said breathlessly, taking in the extremely large and long hallway of our floor, The elevator opened up to it, revealing a red carpet that ran all the way till the end of the hall, the countless large doubles doors on both sides of the hall indicated that each and every room were extremely large in sizes.

The entire floor was decorated in District Two's signature colours, which were the obviously bold colours of red and black, the large window at the end of the hall had large black and red curtains cascading down the sides, slightly darkening the room more than it already was. The countless rows of large crystal chandelier made it seem as if this entire floor was for those who were royalty, making me feel far more special than it should; another one of The Capitol's illusions.

I was dragged in by Mico, who was clearly more than desperate to explore each and every room here; it even overshadowed his desperation to get the Toga off. I on the other hand would rather stay in it, it was probably the most extravagant but the most comfortable piece of clothing I had ever worn and I used my free hand to pull it up slightly, stopping the bottom of it from getting dirtied by the floor. Not that it could have, the red carpet was practically spotless, and the white marble walls of the entire floor looked as if they were cleaned more than five times a day.

"You know how every other District says no one gets special treatment? We do."

Cato's smug comment came out with a snort of laughter at himself, and I rolled my eyes at his selfishness over something as petty as bedroom quarters. Gold trotted away ahead of us, explaining that the entire left side of the hall was bedrooms, pointing out that both Mico's and mine were exactly next to each other, right in the middle of the hall, and that both her and Cato's were towards the end. The right side of the hall was explained to be a dinning room, lounge and television room, and even a games room, I failed to understand why they would even include such a thing, only an idiot of a tribute would considered playing some sort of game when their fight to the death was in barely a weeks time.

I was allowed to change in my room first, before we would finally get to eat, and I was absolutely starving, seeing as I hadn't eaten at all today, which is something I took note of getting used to, I wouldn't be served dinners in the arena, I would probably go a few days without a proper meal. Karina helped me in taking out all the pins that had been used to hold up my hair, and had placed the crown in a small box that lay on top of a vanity table in my room.

She soon left however when I had voiced my need to take a shower, wanting to wash off all of the unnecessary products that I had been coated in, longing to feel nothing but fresh again. Naturally, my bathroom was ridiculously eye catching, white cream tiles, and a large round bath tub, which was on a higher level in the room, needing to walk up marble steps to reach it. A separate shower was to the left of it, seeming to be able to fit around ten people, and I decided to go with that, not wanting to feel any more pampered than I already did.

I tried to be as quick as possible, but it was a rather difficult task, with trying to figure out how to even get the shower gel out of the wall, and keeping the water on one simple temperature, and by the time I got out I was more pissed off than I was calm. You couldn't just have a simple on button, with soap and shampoo on a shelf or something, that way you would never get confused and a shower could be just that; a shower. Not some excuse to be pampered till your hearts content, which was what spas were invented for.

I slid open one of the wardrobe doors, drying my hair with a small towel, fully intending on not trying to work the drying machine in the bathroom, I didn't want to electrocute my self. I brows furrowed in confusion, none of the clothes in here seemed to be for comfortable uses, all the pyjama's that were offered were all silk night dresses, and there was a long row of blouses in different colours or frills that hung inside. I decided to go with a pale blue blouse for now, the collar only having subtle frills, and if I left my hair out you wouldn't be able to notice them. Lucky for me that my legs had been waxed, because the only other piece of bottoms that wasn't long colourful trousers was a pair of black leggings, that stopped just below the knee's, I slipped my feet into a pair of pale blue fluffy slippers, feeling like a complete moron while doing so.

My still drying hair clung to the sides of my face slightly as I left the room; my wet bathrobe and towel folded neatly on my king sized bed, which was again unnecessary in its size. It had an endless amount of silk black pillows, with a matching black duvet to go with it, and if I lifted the duvet slightly I could see the maroon red sheets below it. District Two were completely too prideful of their colours, colours that meant such brutal things to them, red obviously emphasizing the image of blood splattered, while black was simply to emphasize how dark and cunning our tributes were; how sick.

The large window in my room that would usually allow light through was covered by the curtains, not that much light would have gotten through in the first place, it had turned dark hours ago, and much before the tribute parade had even begun. I walked towards it, slightly pulling the curtain aside and look below at the brightly lit streets of The Capitol, the city was very much still wide awake, most likely celebrating and buzzing at the beginning of The Hunger Games, and who their bets were on winning.

I doubted I made much of an impact during the parade, the crowd had mostly gone wild for Mico, he was very good and crowd pleasing, knew exactly how to charm them with one simple adorable smile. He even got carried away slightly, screaming at the crowd of how much he loved The Capitol, earning bouquet's of roses to be thrown his way, all of which he gratefully accepted. Being District Two were went too high up in the building, so I still slightly managed to make out the bright colours of what The Capitol people were, and heard their chants for The games with them.

Such stupid, stupid people. Did they not understand just how wrong it was to celebrate a television show that condoned the violence and death of young children? Is that what it took to keep these people entertained now? They couldn't just sit at home with their families and play a board game, or have a family barbeque, something so normal yet still enjoyable if you really tried. I began to feel slightly depressed then, thinking of how I would never be able to have a family of my own, how I would no longer be able to think of Mico as my family, to watch him grow into the strong brave man I knew he would become.

It physically tore my heart to pieces, knowing that after these games he would never be the same, never would have a real nights sleep, The Games would plague his dreams filled with death and blood, and he would be alone, I wouldn't be able to wake him up and sing him back to sleep with a lullaby my father had once sang to me. It destroyed everyone involved in some way, whether it be mentally or physically, and I hated it from the deepest part of my minds, with the darkest part of my soul.

"Disgusting isn't it?"

I jumped slightly, shocked that I hadn't heard anyone step into my room, snapping my head around to find Cato standing closely behind me, watching the outside crowd with such a fiery intensity, so much hate fixed into one stare. I was slightly taken back, I had seen nothing but adoration for The Capitol when Cato was approached by some, or was seen conversing with them. I blinked a couple of times before turning back around to the window, nodding my head, and I was pretty sure he wasn't expecting an answer anyway.

I had thought that The Capitol had possibly given him what he wanted; fame, glory, women. I guess even someone as arrogant as Cato left The Games with scares, his appearing to me more mentally than physically, after all he did watch his friend die, even if she did seem to be the devils child. I was in no place allowed to choose who lived or died, who I thought deserved life was of no relevance, someone with that much power shouldn't be able to have it, no human being should be given that gift.

"The more you watch them … the sicker it gets …" Cato seemed to be finding it difficult to use the correct words, not that I blamed him, there were no real words to explain how terrible these people were, besides Karina of course. I found myself nodding my head again, as if I were supporting him, showing him that he needed no words because I understood completely.

For once, even if it was a small moment, Cato and I could both have some form of understanding with each other, and interaction that wasn't filled with animosity or sarcastic comments, an interaction where I may just be seeing a little of whom he really was. Slowly, a little bit of my detest for him was starting to chip away, finally giving him some respect, now that I knew what he really thought of these mindless people.

"Come on, dinner's ready ginger."

"My name is _Faith_, you imbecilic cretin."

I tried not to sock him around the head as he dragged me by the elbow out the door, walking down the hallway a little to barge through another set of large doors, seeing that everyone had already started their dinner without us. He let go of me when he reached the table, smirking at me as he moved to sit in between Gold and Karina, who were still both in their clothing from the day, while I sat directly opposite him beside Mico, happily chatting away with Drew.

I tuned out their chatter of how they thought the Parade was successful, and how they were sure we were going to get some sponsors. I didn't really want to think about it, because the more I heard about it the more real it became, I could deal with the games when I was actually in the arena, for now I just wanted to spend what little time I had left with the only important person in my life. When I had finished eating I sat back in the large mahogany chair, using one of my hands to fiddle with the afro curls on Mico's head, something I had grown so accustomed to doing since we were young, I found it to be therapeutic, while he just enjoyed the feeling of it.

Cato's forehead creased in concentration slightly as he watched the exchange, seeming to wonder just how close my relationship was with Mico; if he was only just figuring out why I volunteered now then he really was stupid. It only last a couple of seconds, and when he realized I was watching him he averted his gaze, joining back into the conversation that the others were having. Apparently they were discussing what mine and Mico's interview outfits should be, wanting to stick to the whole pure image, which was apparently their initial aim with the Tribute Parade, hence the white Toga's.

Soon the conversation quietened down, and I watched Mico yawn tiredly in his seat, rubbing his eyes like a small child, and I helped him out of his seat, while Gold suggested that we all retire for the night, seeing as it was a big day for Mico and I; the beginning of our three day training period, how wonderful that was going to be. I took his hand and led him out of the dining room and down the hallway, I let him change himself into his pyjama's when we got to his room, and busied myself with once again tidying up the messy clothes he left on the floor, along with one still wet towel that had been flung beside the shower in the bathroom.

Mico jumped forward into his large double bed, which looked exactly like mine, and I wondered if every bedroom on the floor was as identical as ours. I pulled back the large heavy duvets and let him scramble in, looking much to small and frail for this bed, and made himself comfortable before I sat beside him, tucking the duvet around him.

"So, what story is it going to be tonight?"

Mico grinned wickedly, and I instantly knew which story he would ask for, it was one he liked to be told nearly every night, "Achilles and Troy!", I rolled my eyes playfully, pretending to huff in annoyance before chuckling quietly.

"Fine, but I won't be telling it again tomorrow night, it gets boring!"

He nodded his head enthusiastically before his eyes caught onto something behind me, and losing his attention I turned around to see what was so interesting. A scowl formed on my face, seeing Cato's calculating gaze as he once again watched us both, Mico's bedroom door had been left open, he never liked it shut when he slept. So Cato took it upon himself to intrude and leaned against the doorframe, with clearly no intention of moving any time soon.

"Cato! Wanna listen to the story too?"

My eyes narrowed towards Cato as he smirked, and my message was clear through it - turn around and go to your own room- naturally he didn't listen. Instead he walked closer into the room, standing at the foot of the bed, his arms still folded, and his smirk still present, only he avoided eye contact with me. I refused to offer him a seat, he could stand there and suffer while I told my story, and I would make sure I told it much slower than usual, hopefully then he would get bored and leave early, this sort interaction with Mico was private. Well, at least I thought it was anyway, god Mico was such a traitor sometimes.

"Go on! Start!"

I turned back around, reaching to run my hands through Mico's dark brown hair once, smiling softly at him, and I tucked one of my legs under the other, getting comfortable for the story I would tell.

"Well, it all started when Helen ran away with Paris back to Troy, she was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world, and that was thanks to her being a Demi-God-"

"A Demi-God is a being who is half God and half human Cato."

I allowed Mico to interrupt me, mostly because I couldn't actually get annoyed at him, and I quickly looked back to Cato to see if he understood, he nodded once, indicating me to go on.

"Yes well, some say that Helen may have possibly been abducted by Paris,-"

"Yeah, but we like to think it's 'cause they were in love don't we Faith?"

I nodded once more, smiling as I continued, "And when her husband Menelaus came to know about her absence, he and his brother Agamemnon declared a Trojan war-"

"And _thousands_ of ships were sent to the shores of Troy!"

Mico used his hands to make grand gestures as he emphasized his point towards Cato, interrupting me several times after that to tell the story himself, feeling as if he would impress Cato for knowing the story so well. Cato listened intently, nodding at the correct times when Mico had slowly taken over on telling the story, and would only at certain times look back to me for confirmation, making sure he had said the right thing.

Cato might never want to admit it, but I could tell he was beginning to enjoy himself, there was a slight twitch at the edge of his think lips, a smile fighting to take over, and he even unfolded his arms to perch himself on the end of the bed, making himself more comfortable. I watched them both quietly, feeling slightly left out, but at the same time I couldn't have been happier, Mico needed this in some ways, a strong male figure to look up to, and I wasn't in a position to deny him that, especially with our current situation. If reassurance and security from a strong male was what he needed, then I was more than happy to allow Mico that, it was something I could never be able to give him.

Mico had grown on him in the short few days they had spent together, and without any biased thoughts it was hard not to be touched by Mico, he had such a spark, a fire within him, the ability to light up a room and bond with anyone he came into contact with. Cato had so easily taken to him, and seemed far from annoyed if Mico stuck to his hip during our meals, willing to learn and listen to everything Cato knew.

"You tell him the last part Faith! It sounds better when you do it!"

I nodded, ruffling his hair lightly before I turned to Cato, both of us smiling at Mico's excited demeanour, "And so it just goes to show that even the strongest, and most capable of us can still be brought down … Achilles may have been a Demi-God, but the part of him that lost was human, and every human has a flaw; his was just arrogance."

Cato stared at me as he listened, his face blank but his eyes and piercing as ever, and he done it for so long that I began to feel a blush creep up my neck; I made sure to turn around before he could notice my flustered face, and looked back to Mico. He grinned widely at me, pulling up the covers more, and I slowly leaned down to give him a long hug.

"Okay, get to sleep now … we have a day of training tomorrow."

Mico pumped a fist into the air, suddenly looking more energetic that tired, "Yeah, we can kick some ass!"

"Hey, watch your mouth soldier!" I gave him a sceptical look, letting the playful smile crack through my lips as he grinned sheepishly, muttering a quite apology, I leaned down once again to kiss his forehead softly, before standing up again.

He waved and bid a goodnight to Cato, who was not too far behind me, "Have a good nights rest little man," he followed me out into the hallway, and stood there patiently as I softly pulled the door closed, leaving a small gap open for some light to seep through, Mico never liked falling asleep in complete darkness. I turned around, ignoring Cato's expectant gaze, as if he wanted an explanation or something, and I ignored it, turning around again to walk to my room.

His fast footsteps followed behind mine, and I didn't even get a chance to try and shut the door in his face, his long muscled arm reached out to keep it open, forcing himself in and closing the door behind him, he grabbed one of my forearms, making sure to speak quietly, but came out in a very harsh whisper.

"You volunteered for him, didn't you?"

"So what if I did?" I spat, matching his glare with on as equally effective.

"Then why won't you let me help you? Isn't it even more of a reason? To know as much as you possibly can, so he can get out alive and safe?"

I tried yanking my arm from his grip as I replied, my tone seething with venom, he had no right to question my intentions, and they were none of his business, no matter how large his head was.

"If I wanted your help I would have asked for it! I can do this on my own!"

His jaw clenched, looking as if he was holding back from a large outburst, if something like this easily got under his skin, then he really did have a terrible temper, I suggest hard core counselling. It wasn't like he couldn't afford it anyway; his victory of the games had set him up financially for life. He took a moment to gather himself, and with the hand that was holding onto mine, he pulled me closer to him, close enough for me to feel his body heat, and my 5'8 height only reached to his chin, making it even more difficult to face his glare.

I had to settle at glaring as his lips, which probably wasn't the best choice, seeing as when he eventually spoke his hot breath tickled my face, making those same shivers go down my spine again.

"I don't doubt that, but I'm doing this for a reason … I'm trying to make this easier, you don't know what it's like when you get in there … it's hell, one that both you and Mico are gonna suffer immensely unless you start listening."

His tone was steady, firm, but not cold or angry, it almost wanted to draw me in closer to him, because his words hit home, it made me think of just how scared I was, how close it was until this was over, how I may not even be able to protect Mico efficiently, that I could lose him. I must have let my emotions slip onto my face, because Cato's grip on my arm loosened slightly, and his other hand rested in the same place, pulling just that closer to him.

"I want this to be as easy as it can be, because we both know Mico isn't a bad kid, and if you really want to protect him, you know you need my help."

Really Faith? _Really?_ Was I honestly going to think about what his lips looked like in a conversation as tense as this? Yes he was a relatively attractive guy, to other women that would be exagerrated, but I had never gone for a guy, so I wouldn't even know what would appeal to me. I would never allow it to be someone as messed up as Cato; I refused to allow myself to think that he was that much more attractive, I would rather slit my own throat than ever succumb to that though, no matter how soft his lips were.

Look at something else Faith, look at something else. No. Not the eyes, the eyes are too piercing right now, god I felt like some stupid little girl, I would need some serious therapy after this night. The exhaustion from the parade and idiotic voice of Gold through dinner had gotten to me, yes that was definitely it, because I was no way in the right mind state right now, I was definitely just over tired.

I only nodded slightly as I stared at Cato's chin, finally finding something to keep my eyes away from him, hopefully he would think that I was too disgusted to actually look at him, which was probably another reason for me behaving this way. He made me far to uncomfortable being in my personal space, especially since he was one of the top five people I loathed in this country, and I would definitely need to scrub myself clean after he left, who knows what Capitol women he had been playing around with since he got her.

He let go of me after that, taking a step back to survey my face, and I folded my arms as I glared at his face, now angry with him, thankfully to have some of my sane mind back, it was definitely the close proximity. He smirked, taking another step back towards the door, letting out a knowing chuckle before he spoke.

"Deep down inside you Faith, there's a part of you attracted to me."

I sneered at him, my teeth bearing as I did so, and I forced my reply out through gritted teeth, "There is nothing to be attracted to, you're abnormally large forehead could be seen from across The Capitol."

He laughed loudly then, behaving as if my words hadn't affected him, and left my room, closing it behind him, and I knew for a fact that as soon as my door shut, his hand went to touch his forehead, wondering if my words were true. What an easy man to read.

Hold on ... he just called me Faith.

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**PeppermintAmortentia: I meant your story Behind Enemy Lines, Common Sense and another story Spark were my favorite HG stories on here, hope I didn't sound too confusing in my last AN . And haha thank you, I find it quite funny adding that in. Update is here!**

**Dra9onf7yz: Thank you! Yeah it took a lot of thought for that, I wanted something to make an impact (to the capitol, which will become more evident later on) anddd I think you entered your comment before you finished what you were saying coz it's cut off half way through haha! :)**

**SaiyanPrincess711: Thank tou for always being impressed with the chapters! Hope this one did just that! And haha hopefully I can keep coming up with new ones to carry it on! ;)**

**Nelle07: THANK YOU! Always great to have a new reader, hope you enjoy the story as it progresses :D Ahaaaa I'm glad you pointed that out, I don't think anyone else has when it comes to Mico! **

**Anon: It's said your anonymous, would have liked to know your name! *blushes* hopefully the reviews increase as the chapters increase! Awww thank you, I'm glad you really think so! Hahaha I think every reader had a small part of them that wanted Cato to win! My story is a little AUish but I'll try not to change it too much for the Katniss/Peeta lovers! Thank you again and happy reading!**

**So I may have a LOT of writing errors in this chapter, but I'm so tired from school and things that I just want to fall in bed and stay there FOREVER! Haha for my Twilight readers a chapter of that will be out this weekend! Thank you for waiting paitently!**

**HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER, A LITTLE PROGRESSION IN FAITH AND CATO'S RELATIONSHIP! AND IF YOU WANT MORE ... REVIEWWWWWWWWW!**


	7. Build

_"I'm Gonna Pick Up The Pieces And Build A Lego House, If Things Go Wrong We Can Knock It Down. My Three Words Have Two Meanings But There's One Thing On My Mind, It's All For You. I'm Out Of Sight, I'm Out Of Mind, I'll Do It All For You In Time, And Out Of All These I've Done ... I Think I Love You Better Now." - Ed Sheeran; Lego House._

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I silently watched over Mico as he climbed the netting in the training room, my arms folded softly, ignoring the obnoxious laughs of the careers by the weapons, or the small murmurings of the lower districts by the survival stations. All morning I had mostly stuck to myself, with Mico by my side, only polite enough to offer a smile to those who were pleasant to me. Cato and I had gotten into a rather heated argument at breakfast, after he had advised me to stick with the weapons station to show my status among the Districts, naturally I refused tell him I would do nothing of the sort, only flaring his temper and insulting my lack of skills with weapons in the first place.

He was quite a difficult man to read at times, mostly because he had behaved as if last night had never happened, as if he hadn't listened to a story with Mico, or hadn't invaded my personal space and let on just how much he wanted to help. Instead he had gone back to the over confident, self absorbed child he created an image of being, and if he continued to do so I had no problem with that, I didn't need to make friends in a time like this, it wasn't as if they would last anyway.

Karina had done my hair into a French plait, and my hair was long enough for the braid to rest over my shoulder. It was a simple hair style, comfortable and sufficient for something like training, nothing like the clothing we had been assigned to. Our training clothing was a dull grey colour, the material sticking to my body in a way that made me feel suffocated, but I guessed it was made that way to keep the body warm and to absorb sweat; so in a way it was perfect training gear.

My head jerked upwards at the sound of Mico yelping, he hung onto the netting tightly as it swung around, making him hang from it upside down. He was on his way back down, trying to get the hang of it just in case we would need to tree climb in the arena, not knowing what kind of environment would be made. The game makers thought they were being overly smart this year, merging two arenas together with two different environments, the big twist for the Quarter Quell. I didn't even understand how they were going to pull it off, how they were even going to link them together, or if it was even scientifically possible.

This had to be the absolute worst year for Mico to get reaped; god knows that they were going to put in twice the amount of mutations in order to fill the place up, making it twice as hard as it would usually be to survive. I walked closer to the netting, fully ready to catch Mico if he lost his gripping, until I realised he was using my advice and hooking his legs into the netting, securing himself before he tried to turn back around.

I smiled as his attempt was successful, and watched begin climbing down again, more cautious than before.

"District Two right?"

I ignored the voice, knowing fully well who it was, and I had no intention to make conversation with a Career, least of all someone as threatening as him. I look at Julian out of the corner of my eye, and he held a fairly large trident in his hand, looking as if he had just come from practicing. He stood beside me, watching Mico with a smirk on his face, and I fought the growl that was attempting to come out of my mouth, my protective instincts taking it, because he was grinning at Mico like he was a meal.

I would have deemed him attractive, only it was hard to push past his arrogance and death like aura, instead I felt repulsed by his blood thirsty attitude. He was clearly stupid, if he didn't know to not underestimate a smaller tribute, he clearly didn't watch the previous games when that small girl from Eleven had practically survived till the end, based on her intelligence on plants. Mico was from District Two, it didn't matter how young he was because every District Two member had some form of extensive training in weaponry, and again he seemed too stupid to think of that.

I heard him chuckle as he realised he wouldn't receive an answer from me, taking a step closer to my side, as if testing my confidence around him. I didn't react, I didn't even spare another glance at him, and I continued to watch Mico climb down the netting, the only indication of my mood changing was that now my shoulders had tensed, but someone like Julian wouldn't notice such a thing.

"So you really are as silent as what I saw at the Reapings and Tribute Parade," He paused for a moment, grunting, only making my annoyance of his presence increase, "so, about this whole alliance thing, we're gonna need you over at the weapons with us, and ditch the kid too … he looks like a liability."

"Go away."

I saw his eyes widen just that little bit in shock, clearly not expecting a reply such as that, and I saw Mico's jaw drop as he finally reached the ground, standing by the netting and watching our exchange. Julian recovered quickly, his hold on the trident tightening in a threatening manor, and I turned my body around to face him with a hard expression, daring him to strike me.

"Listen bitch, just 'cause you're from Two don't make you any better than the rest of us."

His voiced seethed with venom, and I could completely hear the jealousy in it, over the fact that I was a Two, how completely pathetic, that fame and popularity was the most important thing to him as he was about enter a game that would end his life.

"So leave, I didn't ask you to come over here."

My words were intended to be final, leaving no room for more conversation or negotiations. I didn't want an alliance, teaming up with Careers was a guaranteed death wish, yeah your safe for a few days while they pick off the less threatening ones, but once it narrows down to the group of you left, they all turn on each other like a pack of animals. It was barbaric and a death wish, I was looking for ways to stay alive until the end, not be on guard throughout the entire time in a arena because I knew they would try and slit my throat in my sleep.

I could feel the other Careers gazes burning into the back of my shirt, eyeing out the large two printed across it, probably wondering why our conversation had gone so sour. Julian cast one fleeting look to them before his eyes made contact with mine, a silent threat being made between us, one that I was ready to take on, and he stepped closer to me, his tall frame towering over mine as he glared down.

"Watch your back Two."

He stalked off as soon as he said it, as if those last parting words were meant to make me shake in my boots, but instead made me want to laugh at his childish behaviour; clearly he wasn't used to any forms of rejection. I had to remember to keep an eye out for him when we entered the arena, I knew how dangerous he was just by the way he threw those tridents around, and now I knew after our little dispute he would make me a primary target in the arena, maybe even go for Mico first.

I was going to fight Julian in the arena, no doubt about it, and it was very possible that he would be the cause of my death, actually there was no doubt about it in both of our minds, but what he didn't know was that I was going to take him down with me, in the most painful way he I could imagine. I only looked the Careers for a small second after that, catching eyes with his District partner, whose gaze was so piercing that I actually had to admit was uncomfortable, her eyes screamed so many images of how she thought she would kill me, but then turned to look at Mico behind me, and a sick twisted grin spread across her face. Yes, this year was definitely the worst year for Mico to be reaped.

At the end of training I was more than content with our progress, Mico had successfully stuck to the plants station, going over and over with trying to memorise them with the assigned mentor to the station. We worked wonderfully as a team, I actually had quite a lot of fun with him, as long as I ignored the glares that I got form time to time with the Careers, as long as I showed they weren't getting to me, then they wouldn't try to intimidate me any further.

I had created a routine in my head of how training would go; in the morning we would focus on upper body strength, climbing the bars and netting, because I knew for a fact that at one point it would save our lives in the arena, and after lunch we would practice on the fire, plant and camouflage stations. I'd only let Mico practice with knives on the last day before he got assessed, if we skipped lunch then he would manage to get in an hour of practice to clean himself up on them, and for that I would force feed him twice the amount he would usually have at breakfast so he wouldn't get hungry.

Apparently Finnick Odaire and Cato had suddenly become best friends, because I didn't even have time to change out of my training clothing before Cato barged in, Karina and Gold in tow, all with mixed emotions on their faces. I stood there awkwardly in my underwear, blushing a furious red at the fact Cato openly stared, not even seeming to care I was half naked. Instead he looked ready to explode, his face dark and reading for another argument.

"So Odaire tells me you refused an alliance with his Career."

It obviously wasn't a question, so I didn't bother answering, I simply stood there as I waited for an onslaught of insults to come out of his mouth, in stead nothing came out, and he looked as if he was trying to still get over the fact that I had refused the Careers. Mico wondered rushed in quickly, hearing the commotion and still pulling on a plain white shirt over his head, he came to stand beside me and Cato, his curious gaze flicking between us.

"I didn't want to."

Cato shook his head in disbelief at me, both hands running over his head as he repeated my words and proceeded to throw them up in the air, not holding back any more and began to yell.

"Are you _trying _to get yourself killed? You're District Two! You _control _the Career alliance! Not exclude yourself from it!"

I didn't respond, only staring at him blankly as he continued to fume, I didn't understand what I could say to make him feel better, because it looked as if anything that would come out of my mouth would only piss him off more. Gold rushed quickly to stand right beside Cato, her pleading eyes directed towards me as she absentmindedly flattened down her floral decorated skirt.

"It's okay … this can be resolved, you can just sit with them at lunch tomorrow and act as if nothing had happened, Finnick will speak to the boy tribute Cato."

Mico let out a snort, rolling his eyes as he moved to stand beside me, and nudged me slightly before smiling, trying to make the atmosphere more humorous, only his comment done nothing but escalate the situation.

"She kinda told him where to go, so I don't think that'll happen."

The eerie silence in the room actually felt excruciatingly painful, and the more I watched Cato's face twist and contort into emotions mixed between anger and defeat, the more I actually felt bad for making him feel this stressed out. I failed to understand why though, he didn't have to mentor me, I let him know that from the beginning, he didn't need to feel responsible for my life, I knew what I was doing and I knew I could handle it, his mentoring was going to waste on me.

"I'll be getting myself killed by creating an alliance with them."

"You'll be getting yourself killed without them!"

"I'll be getting killed faster if I join up with them, they're dangerous and unnecessary."

"I don't even understand you! You say you want to keep Mico alive, yet you're doing everything possible to go the opposite way!"

The room slowly began to empty out, Gold left first, clearly not wanting to be any where near Cato when he eventually lost his temper, Karina soon followed, giving me a small nod of support before she left, and then eventually Mico left, taking cautious steps back as he continued to look between us, closing the door behind him.

We stared at each other in silence for a long time, neither of us daring to break it, as if it would only worsen the situation, and suddenly, now that I was alone with him in the room, I felt twice as subconscious as I did before standing there in my underwear. Before a blush could once again over take my face, I turned around and went to retrieve the bathrobe I had left my bed, wrapping it around my frame tightly as if it were a form of sanctuary. Without look back to him I spoke, quietly, knowing it was best to keep my emotions in check, someone out of the two of us had to be calm, shouting would get us no where.

"I know what I'm doing Cato."

He sighed in response, pausing for such a long time that I thought he wouldn't actually say anything, but when he did his voice was quite, but his tone was hard, strained, as if this was mental torture.

"No, you don't. You have no idea what you're doing … you haven't been there, you haven't seen things the way I have … hell, you can't even fight. I'm _trying_ to keep you both alive, but at the way this is going I don't think you'll make it past the Cornucopia."

I don't think his words were intended to hurt me, they were just honest, and yet I still found that it did make my stomach do a bunch of knots, maybe not in pain, but in fear, because it looked like he was really giving up. He could give up on me, which was fine, I didn't expect him to try in the first place, but he couldn't do that to Mico, he couldn't bail on him. Mico entrusted his life to Cato, he had so much faith in his mentor and that he could take care of him, there was no way he was stopping on mentoring Mico now, he had filled his head with too many Cato-like strategies to stop now.

"You can go ahead and think that, but you're not going to stop mentoring Mico."

He let out a small chuckle at that, shaking his head in disbelief at my response, looking at me incredulously.

"I don't get you … I try really hard too, but I just don't understand a single part of you … but I _know _there's more to you than you're letting on."

I looked to the floor, shuffling around in my bare feet, he was prying, and I hated people who pried on things that didn't concern them. He was trying to dig his way into things that held no relevance to him and these games; he was treading on dangerous territory, and just because I had decided he was an okay person didn't mean I wouldn't bite his head off for prying.

I looked back up to him, to notice that he was doing that piercing gaze thing, were his eyes looked much more bluer than they usually did, and looked as if they could go right through me, making my stomach do that weird thing it did when he looked at me. It was unfamiliar feeling, one I couldn't label, so therefore I didn't like it, only I couldn't look away from him; I stared back, getting lost in his eyes.

For crying out loud what was happening to me? I couldn't focus properly, in stead of thinking about how I could keep Mico alive I was thinking about how blue his eyes were, or how his tight black shirt seemed to compliment his chest, or how the fact he was so tall wasn't intimidating like Julian was, but gave off a more secure feeling. I was driving myself insane, these games were getting to me, the once thick wall that I had created in my mind to protect me from things was slowly crumbling, and so easily, I briefly wondered if that was what it was life for every prepared tribute of the games.

I cleared my throat and looked away, trying to find something interesting to look at to relieve the tension in the room, deciding to stare at the plan black boots I had been given to wear during training. I heard the shuffle of Cato's large feet as he turned for the door, and his last comment was what drove me to pick up said boot and haul it at the back of his head, managing a direct hit before he shut the door in a groan of pain.

"Dinners ready in five ginger, try and get your stinking ass ready before then."

"My name is Faith!"

True to Cato's word, dinner was ready in less than five minutes, so I didn't have the time to shower before it, and sat through dinner feeling very uncomfortable as I genuinely thought I reeked of sweat. As revenge for me throwing the boot as his head earlier, Cato made sure to make a shower of wrinkling his nose in disgusted any time I passed him a plate of appetisers, earning a kick under the table from me every time he did so. He was actually such a child.

As soon as dinner had finished I had practically rushed to my bedroom to get a shower, making sure to scrub myself silly, getting out all the dirt I felt was on me, including how disgusted I felt after Julian had spoken to me. The boy made my skin crawl in completely disturbing ways, him and his tribute partner, I had never a met a pair of more sadistic people in my entire life; and that was saying something, since I lived in District Two.

Even Cato had never come across as twisted as them; he always just seemed to hold an over-confident I'm-going-to-rule-the-world-with-my-skills demeanour. I'll admit, although unwillingly, that I did begin to feel a small bit of sympathy for him after his reaction to Clove's demise, but it was easily forgotten, the finals of the games, which was his and Thresh's final fight, was one of complete brutality, Thresh had simply wanted to go home, where as Cato wanted to win, craved it, thirsted for it, needed it after all he had done.

But District Four, this year it wasn't even about winning, not about fame or the glamour of it all. No, for them it was all about killing, about watching someone die at their hand, about smiling while they slowly sucked the life out of someone with the use of a blade; it was beyond sickening, it was passed terrifying, they didn't even classify as human anymore. All I could see when I looked at them were the eyes of a monster.

I put my bathrobe over my silk lilac nightdress, putting on my slippers to go see if Mico had tucked himself in bed yet, and I had left my red hair out as it began to dry, still untrustworthy of the dryers in the bathroom. Shockingly his room was empty, his bed sheets still perfectly made out from when the Avox's had remade it this morning.

Avox's. They were people I preferred not addressing, not because I thought they were freaks or anything, or deserved their punishments; it was far from that actually. It was just every time I looked one of them in the eye I felt an extreme amount of guilt take over me, as if I were the one to cut off their tongues. It was absolutely disgusting what The Capitol did to them, so inhumane and wrong that I couldn't believe they called themselves a civilised population, because there was simply nothing civilised about what they did. They took away their identity, their uniqueness that every human being got as an individual, and stripped them all of their humanitarian rights.

Why? Because they defied the government, because they went against President Snow, a task that only the bravest of us people were noble enough to try, and what they received was an act of cruelty, torture. It made me sick to my stomach to even imagine what they did to Avox's when they were caught; the amount of scenario's that filled my mind plagued me in dreams. That was why I couldn't look at an Avox.

"Has anyone seen Mico?"

Gold shook her head from where she sat, powdering her face while she looked into the small compact mirror in her head, while Karina and Drew watched a show with Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith commentate on this years Tribute Parade, wanting to know what the general thoughts were of every tributes stylist. They all sat in dark red love seats, both Karina and Drew completely engrossed into what they saw.

"He's in the rec room with Cato." Karina's voice was slightly distant, but that was due to the fact her attention was on the widescreen television that hung on the wall opposite us, and her voice still managed to have that authoritive tone to it.

She sat up slightly with Drew when it got to mine and Mico's costumes, and even I couldn't help myself, walking in closer to see what their thoughts were, sitting on the edge of Karina's seat as they spoke up.

"District Two looked wonderful this year don't you agree Claudius?"

"Of course Caesar, there's something very special about these two tributes!"

"I think that might be because they don't look like they want to kill each other!"

Both men began chuckling at Caesar's comment, and I couldn't help but smile at the truth in his statement, even if he intended it to be a joke. Caesar had gone for quite the subtle look this year, his hair only having a tint of red to it, but otherwise you could assume his natural hair colour was black, and it had grown fairly long, being plaited into a braid and swung over one shoulder, while Claudius had gone for a bright green colour to his hair, sprouting in all different directions as if he had been electrocuted.

They went on to compliment Karina's use of Greek mythology, saying how she used that and the Roman Empire to her advantage, seeming to make it compliment each tribute she used it on very well, emphasizing their strengths perfectly, and making them look fabulous while she was at it. Karina beamed at this comment, and a small smile settled on her face as she made eye contact with Drew, sending a wink his way, causing the quite boy to blush without her realizing.

They didn't say much on the tributes themselves, only pointing out who looked like a contender this year, and who looked as if they needed to be watched closely, and naturally District Four was put under that category. I left soon after than, walking down the halls the find out just what Mico was doing at this late hour with Cato, when he should have been in bed gathering his strengths for tomorrow.

The rec room was right at the end of the hall, and exactly opposite Cato's room, I bet he spent most of his time here while we were down at training. The door had been left slightly ajar, allowing voices to filter out through to the hall, which was exactly what made me stop to listen, instead of wandering in. A slight tapping sound was continuously made as they spoke, and if I craned my head the right way I managed to see them both playing table tennis, I didn't even know anyone played that anymore. It was an extremely old game, and Mico had only learnt it because of my obsession with our old country, and they seemed to be in some sort of a debate, raising my interest more.

"She's not bad, I swear! You just need to get to know her, when she learns to trust you everything's a lot easier."

I heard Cato grunt at Mico's statement, and it only took me a second to realize they were talking about me, and Cato waited to take another it at the ball before replying.

"Well she's not making it any easier for me; she acts like a child when I try speaking to her."

Mico laughed, finding Cato's annoyance towards me amusing, answering as he hit the ball perfectly, seeming to find no trouble in multitasking- that's my boy.

"You two are like a Cat and Dog, she's only trying to keep me safe, although I wish she would stop ... she never gives herself time to live."

"She's pretty set on making sure you win, what is she like your sister?"

Mico shook his head, before he set his bat down, ending the game they had been playing, and smiled affectionately as Cato watched him.

"She took me with her when she left the orphanage, took care of me even when we were living there. She's the closest thing I've ever had to a mother … just don't tell her that."

Tears prickled my eyes as he spoke those words, and I had to bite my lip slightly to keep myself from crying, thoughts of never seeing Mico again entered my mind, making me want to curl up in a ball and cry till my hearts content. But I couldn't, I had a job to do, and that job came first, so I took a deep breath, blinked a couple of more times to make sure the glassy look in my eyes had disappeared and knocked on the door before pushing it open.

Both boys looked to slightly startled, but had no suspicion of me ever eavesdropping, Cato said nothing as I stood by the door way, my hands on my hips as I looked to Mico sceptically, him grinning back widely in return.

"Time for bed soldier."

He walked towards me quickly, wrapping his arms around my waist and hugging me tightly, a lump in my throat formed, knowing why he was being so affectionate, but I swallowed it down and let out a small laugh instead, and trying to cover up how emotional I felt.

"Hey, what was that for?"

He let go of me, looking up and smiling, shrugging as he muttered a small nothing, and I rested my arms on his small shoulders as he continued to smile. He brightened up everything so beautifully, carrying an aura of someone who looked at life so optimistically, and not because he was just a child, but because he had hope, hope for something better, and it shone through him so wonderfully, it was what made him so special.

"Right, pyjama's, story and then bed."

He nodded once more, taking my hand and walking around me, leading me out of the door and to the hallway, I would have carried on if I didn't look back into the rec room, once again making eye contact with Cato who was openly staring at us once more, it made me stop in my tracks. Mico stopped also, turning to me with a slightly confused stare, but I ignored it. I'm not sure why I did it, it may have been out of pity, or simply because I enjoyed having him around last night, but whatever the reason it urged to poke my head through the door smirking as I looked at the blue eyed blonde.

"You gonna stand there with your large forehead or are you coming?"

Cato's eyes narrowed in a playful manor, and muttered something under his breath as he stalked forward, he made sure I couldn't make out all of it, but definitely emphasized one of the sentences he was saying, and it went something along the lines of 'only a ginger'. I managed to punch him softly in the arm as he reached us, once again correcting him on my hair colour and real name, earning nothing but a sceptical look as I glared at him.

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**wow. SIXTEEN reviews? Wow. Just wow. That is absolutely fantastic guys! Thank you SOOO much for reviewing, it honestly means the world! I don't really have much else to say, except honestly thank you!**

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**Tori.m: Thank you for reviewing! And ha really? I just try to put as much detail as possible, it's so much easier to write a story in first person, because then I put my mind frame into that of a character, and the words just flow! I'm glad I made you happy ^_^ Thank you!**

**Wearethelight: Wow, you write Spark? I'd just like to say you're very talented writer! I love that story! It's wonderful! And thank you for thinking so :$ People are reviewing now so I'm happy! :D I hope you continue to enjoy my story just as much as I enjoy yours!**

**LouTheThird: Haha thank you soooooo much! Yes I love the banter they have with one another, it's so much fun to write! :D Hope the wait has been worth it!**

**alwaysamarauder16: Great minds think alike ey? ;) :P Haha, well you know something I learnt is that when you think up an idea, no matter how original you think it is, or how strange it might be, somewhere, someone else in the world has thought up the same idea! I love the logic in that! Hope you like this chapter! :D**

**saiyanprincess711: Thank you so much 3 Honestly all I do is just try to add in as much detail as possible, I believe that every little detail counts! Thank you for always reviewing and thinking so highly of my story! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Dra9onf7yz: Thank you! Yeah, I think it did just show abit of their softer sides, maybe even a little of what Cato craves without actually realizing he's showing it! And haha okay! Thank you for reviewing again, it means a lot! Enjoy this chapter!**

**Nelle07: Haha I totally do the same, of course they know it's just banter though, it's so funny when i do :P and lets all hope so! Haha trust me, I'm going to make it a game to remember! ;)**

**Anon: Thank you! Hope you liked this chapter and that it was worth waiting for!**

**PeppermintAmortentia: Really? *blushes* wow, thanks! It means a lot ... which reminds me ... when are YOU updating my lady? I am waiting for another awesome chapter of your story! :P and thank you for liking my writing style! Hope you like this chapter too!**

**Shanice: Thank you, thank you, and THANK YOU! I love that you love my story so much ;) Because it makes me ever so happy! Enjoy another chapter!**

**The-trident-in-finnicks-pants: *bows* Thank you for the applause! and Thank you for reviewing again, if he ever gets too OCC let me know!**

**JennaRae: Haha two reviews! Thanks a bunch for that" :D From here to Disney land, thank you so much for your kind words, I smiled so much at your comments about Cato and Faith! And I'm afraid I can't specifically answer that, as it would kind of ruin the plot, but it does come clearer with each chapter, so hopefully you just stick by the story and continue to love it!**

**Onlygirl16: Thank you! Hope you liked this chapter just as much and review again!**

**Plv14300: I got well confused when I couldn't find your review, but now I have! Haha I couldn't help it, I loved Cato in the books, was totally sad when he died ... and then Alexander Ludwig played him and I was like O.O 'I would' hahaha, he made it easier to empathize with him in the film too, because he sort of redeemed himself at the end! Anyway happy reading!**

**Fortesfortuniaiuvat: I was looking through chapter six's reviews and had wondered where yours had gone, because I had found it in my email, and then found it in chapter five ha! Anyway, thank you for liking my story, I'm glad you enjoy reading it ... and it means a lot for you to think that! You wrote a HG fanfic? I'll check it out as soon as possible :) Happy Reading!**

**I'll probably update during the week people, if my school schedual doesn't get busy I'll update twice, but now that my exams are coming up it might get a little iffy, so hang in there for me! Ciao! **


	8. Spark

_"Do You Ever Feel Like A Plastic Bag, Drifting Through The Wind Wanting To Start Again? Do You Ever Feel Already Buried Deep, Six Feet Under Screams But No One Seems To Hear A Thing? Do You Know That There's Still A Chance For You? 'Cause There's A Spark In You. You've Just Gotta Ignite The Light And Let It Shine, Just Own The Night Like The Fourth Of July." - Katy Perry; Firework._

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It seemed as if a nice comfortable routine had formed over the past three days since training began, by day I would work with Mico on the survival stations, only letting him practice his knives at lunch for no other tribute to see, and by night I would tell Mico stories like I always did, with Cato sitting in the corner quietly listening and watching us both, it was quite refreshing to have something that made me feel settled in a time as dark as this. Cato accepted I wasn't going to be a Career so we had come to a mutual agreement, together we thought out a strategy and angle to go by until I entered the arena, and by doing that I had to avoid any contact with any other tributes other than Mico. We kept to ourselves in the training room, and only took part in group exercises when we were forced too, even then the training instructors had a hard time co-operating with me; it seems as though I love giving people a hard time.

There wasn't any point in trying to pull off a Johanna Mason, Cato said if I did that the Careers would instantly see right through it, and would deem Mico and I even bigger threats, making this a whole lot more difficult for us. I never expected any of this to be easy, but I didn't expect it to turn out this complicated, it seemed there was no way I would be able to avoid being targeted by The Careers when we would be released at The Cornucopia. The only possible chance I would have is to seem just a little threatening, but not threatening enough that they would consider me the first priority of who was the first to go.

I had actually felt kind of bad, totally messing up Cato's strategy and advice he would have given us, and had only four days to rethink an entire new one, without any guarantee of me living. There was always the backup plan, which was just to run the hell out of there with Mico as soon as we stepped off the podium, but then we had no idea what the arena's would be like, we needed resources to be able to survive if we couldn't find water or food anywhere. Weapons were a whole other league of their own; apparently they were always put at the mouth of the Cornucopia, which would be playing right into The Careers hands.

The only advantage I had was that their Career alliance wasn't big enough this year, with there only being four instead of six, so they wouldn't have enough people around to specifically target me. Soon enough our private sessions with the Game makers had come around, and Cato was adamant in getting it through to my head that I had to get at least a nine, this was him going by on practically nothing, his faith in me despite my apparent lack of skills was quite flattering. But also unnerved me, because if he thought I could actually get that score, he clearly thought I was capable of more than I ever told him, he never pushed the matter though, just left me be; we were finally discovering each others boundaries and respecting them.

I was already bracing myself for the looks of disappointment and onslaught of insults that would fall from Cato's mouth, we all sat in the lounge room in silence as we watched the results of our moderation with the Game makers, since I hadn't tried to do anything impressive, I didn't want to draw attention to myself any more than I already had.

Turned out the volunteers from One were twins, both with identical features of blonde hair and green eyes, thin lips that held a sinister smirk in their cover photo on the screen. Wow, when you want to fight your brother or sister in a death match with one winner, then you really have lost all common sense in your mind ever contained. It was rather weird though, seeing two different genders with the exact same features, but still manage to look either feminine or masculine, maybe they were test tube babies or something, genetically altered to have the same features. They were both in their respective ways beautiful of course, and we all knew that good looks got you everywhere with sponsors when it came to the Games, Finnick Odaire's trident was a prime example of that.

Both Caesar and Claudius feigned shock as both tributes were awarded nines, and I knew exactly why, seeing as they were showing off their abilities in training, the boy was talented with flails and due to his bulky size could life two at a time, while his sister who was the opposite in physical appearance had a habit for making weapons out of rope, expertly tying knots in record time, she could use them to attack the dummies in very creative ways, something so simple made into a deadly weapon; she was one to watch out for.

Mico's name was flashed on screen, along with his picture where he slightly smiled towards the camera, not wanting to seem too friendly, but approachable enough that sponsors would like him; Cato's doing of course. Everyone's breath hitched in their throats as Claudius left a dramatic pause, something he always did when announcing the scores and my arm around Mico's shoulders tightened just that much more.

Cato stood behind us, his hands resting on the back of our chair, his eyes never leaving the screen as he concentrated on it, willing it to give a good enough score, his eyes brows furrowed. As if sensing my gaze he looked to me, his lips pursed, before going back to the screen, me doing the same.

"Seven."

I let out the breath I had been holding for those long seconds, smiling widely down at him, and laughing a little as his face contorted into one of shock, while Gold, Karina and Drew all stood to give him pat on the backs and congratulate him. Cato simply grinned and gave Mico's shoulder a squeeze, and I rolled my eyes and Mico just nodded back, finding their manly exchange amusing. I hugged him last and made sure it lasted a long time, giving him a kiss on the forehead, and letting him rest his head on my shoulder.

"Faith Willows from District Two received a score of …"

Caesar spoke this time as he read from a sheet in his hands, his facial expression blank as he let no indication of what my score could possibly be, it was another tense moment filled the room, I downcast my eyes to the floor, not wanting to see their faces when I was certain a low score would come up.

"Six."

Well, it was definitely a lot higher than I expected that was for sure, but still no where near high enough to what everyone expected, and the only people who seemed to get past their disappointments of my scores where Mico and Karina, both hugging and muttering a small 'well done'. Neither Gold or Cato said anything on the matter, he was probably writing up paragraphs of things to say to me once the show was over, which I probably deserved, seeing as I had let him down again, for some reason I didn't want to, I almost wanted to make him proud of me, but it wasn't about what I wanted, it was about what I had to do.

It carried on in silence as the show went on, District Three both getting more pitiful scores than mine, while Julian and his partner Sunny, which I thought was a completely ironic name for her to have, considering she was anything but a bright personality, both scored a ten, shock there, didn't see that coming what so ever. Okay so now maybe wasn't the time for sarcasm, but with Caesar and Claudius droning on about how one of them were sure to be the winner this year, it was hard not to be a little bitter, they were the only tributes they had commented on.

The only other District showing any promise in being a contender was Seven, being from the District of Lumber I wasn't all that surprised, the young boy there had some good skills with an axe, but didn't use it enough to draw close attention to himself during training, he had received an eight. While most of the Districts varied in scores, I think I even saw someone from Twelve get a two, but then again they had never produced promising victors, Haymitch Abernathy won solely because he steered clear from all the fighting, and had figured out how the barrier worked to kill his last opponent, which if you think about was ingenious of him.

When the show had finished Cato abruptly turned the TV off, making the silence between all of us just that much more painful to sit through, and I could practically feel him burning a whole into the back of my head with his glare.

"Well I think it's time for some celebrating, don't you Karina?"

"Ye-yes, of course. Mico why don't you come with us into the dining room, I think you deserve some cake for your score."

Traitors. All abandoning me to be alone with the maniac mentor, he would probably kill me before I even entered the arena, but I gave Mico a reassuring nod as he stood, waving softly as he left the room with Karina, Drew and Gold, shutting the door behind them. Silence once again engulfed us, and played with the sleeves of my lilac blouse as to avoid the clear tension in the room, the anger practically radiated off of Cato.

I was slightly started as he made movement, walking around the seat to take Mico's place beside me, leaning back into it with his hands on his lap, staring at the blank television ahead. His muscles weren't tense, nor were his fists clenched, both signs of when he was annoyed, but it didn't calm me, it made me feel slightly on edge, because I had no idea what to expect from him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

His voice was soft, and he said it quietly, dazing me a little as to why he was behaving so unlike him, so out of character, Cato could never be this gentle. It was as if he were expecting a counselling session or something, for me to unload a lot of things and confide in him or something, but instead I only said two words.

"I'm sorry."

My voice was just as quite, and I didn't dare look him in the eye as I said it, but he looked up, the expression on his face unreadable as he shook his head at me, as if disappointed in my answer.

"No you're not, you're just sorry that it's pissed me off … you're perfectly content with your actions."

I guess that was true, which was probably why I didn't protest in his statement, instead I looked to the floor, suddenly feeling very small in front of him, you would think him shouting would make me feel this way, but I only seemed to give as good as I got when he did that.

"It's better this way."

"I don't know what else I can do, I've tried time and time again to help you out … and you just throw it in my face."

Another silence engulfed us as I took in his words, and finally I understood why he was so adamant in trying to help me, why he hadn't given up and continued to pester me. Because he was afraid, not for me, but of how it would make him feel to watch me die, how it would feel when he sees a sword plunged into me, knowing there was nothing he could have done to prevent that because he couldn't mentor me. Suddenly I felt a whole lot more stupid than I did before, because it had taken me so much longer to realize something as simple as that, I was the one who could read peoples emotions well, or at least I liked to think so, and I couldn't even see that Cato was genuinely trying to help, make it as easiest as possible.

"To hell with this," He stood up from his seat, suddenly regaining the confidence he always held, his shoulders squaring in a masculine manor like it usually did, "come on."

He grabbed my wrist, forcefully yanking me out of my seat and out of the lounge room, ignoring my protests and insults as he practically pulled my dragging feet down the hall and towards the elevators. Once inside was when he finally let go, and I sneered at him as I rubbed my wrist, emphasizing the pain of what he did.

"Where the hell are you taking me?"

"The training room."

His answer was simple, and said it as if it were the most obvious answer the world, keeping his eyes trained on the metal doors as he spoke, his voice firm and cold like it usually was. My face contorted into one of confusion, feeling truly dumbfounded by what had come out of his mouth.

"But it's after hours, it'll be closed."

He didn't answer me, and I wasn't sure of whether he may not have heard me, or because he chose to ignore me, but I decided to go with the latter, knowing his arrogant self. When we reached the bottom floor he reclaimed my wrist once again, this time his hold on me was softer, but still the grip was firm enough to lead me down the narrow dark hallway of where the entry doors to the training room were. Outside stood two peacekeepers in white uniform, contrasting greatly through the dark almost pitch black hallway and Cato walked up to one of them, who looked to be female.

They nodded at each other, and Cato continued to walk past them, only nodding once more as the other peacekeeper spoke to him in a slightly hushed tone, as if afraid of getting caught.

"You have one hour."

He thrust me into the room, and upon our movement inside the motion sensitive lights began to light up in the ceiling, bringing light to the entire training room, feeling a whole lot larger now that there weren't twenty four tributes in her trying to train. Cato closed the large doors behind him, turning and walking past me to the weapons section, he lifted up one of the swords, sizing it up with his blue eyes in a concentrated manor.

"Cato, we shouldn't be in here. We'll get caught."

"Don't you ever listen to a word I say? We're District Two. We get special treatment; I paid off those peacekeepers to let me in here for an hour."

He held out another sword to me by the blade, the handle pointed in my direction, hesitantly I took it, still confused by Cato's statement.

"But how did you know we'd come here?"

He shrugged turning his back to me once more to look at other swords, mine hanging limply in my arm, "It was a precaution, and I hoped you'd do as I said and get a good score … but then again this is you and I knew you wouldn't listen to me … so I had a back up."

That took me completely off guard, knowing he had gone to such measures to make sure I ended up coming out of this okay somehow, and it stirred something inside of me, that weird feeling in my stomach that I didn't like. He actually cared enough to do something like this, knowing if we got caught that it would probably mean extreme punishment from The Capitol; this was seen as cheating.

I didn't get another second to ponder over what exactly I though of this kind act, because soon enough Cato whipped around back to me, charging at me with full speed and swinging his large silver sword down to me, I had less than a second to bring up my own and block his attack. I put force into my sword to push him off, and he staggered back a little with a smirk on his face, mine still in shock at what he had done.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"I'm trying to train you."

He attempted another swing above me head again, but I was more prepared this time in blocking it, only I didn't expect the punch he would deliver in my stomach straight after, sending me barrelling backwards.

"You're hiding a lot of stuff ginger, and if you won't tell me what it is … I'm going to find out."

The little shit was to perceptive for his own good, and as soon as I recovered from the painful blow to my stomach, I growled at him as I bared my teeth, now severely pissed off with what he had done. I was playing right into his hands, I knew that, but instead of throwing my sword to the floor and walking away I stayed put, tightening my hold on the sword and crouching into a battle stance.

He wasn't trying to help me at all, I was stupid for even thinking so, this was his way of forcing out what abilities he thought I had, curiosity clearly getting the better of him and attacking me like some maniac.

I charged at him this time, swinging the sword to try and swipe him from his side, but he easily blocked it by grabbing my forearm, and I quickly ducked as his sword came barrelling into the side of my face. Yanking my arm away from his I turn to elbow him the face, satisfied when I knew I had struck him in the jaw, hearing him grunt and push my back. I managed to keep my balance as I almost fell forward, and turned around to glare at him, standing there with a smirk while rubbing his jaw.

"That was pathetic. You're not even trying."

He was provoking me, I should have known that, but my stubborn and prideful mind pushed the logical part of my brain away, and I went to attack him again, this time putting more force into my swings, which he clearly wasn't expecting, he staggered slightly as our swords clashed, startled by how sudden my movement had become, I was faster, more agile, actually putting effort into the swings I threw at him.

But he gave an equal amount of competition, Cato was more practiced in a sword than I was, it was his signature weapon, and although he may have been slower due to his heavy build, the forces of his blows made up for that. It could have gone on for hours, neither of us willing to surrender; he had started something that I was determined to finish. At one point he grabbed my wrist with his free hand, swinging me around so that his sword lay against my throat, his lips resting beside my ear, whispering so sinisterly, yet it did nothing but make my stomach flip uncontrollably and send shivers down my spine, now was really not the time for something like that.

"What the hell are you hiding?"

I jerked my head back forcefully, and the back of my head crashed into his nose, not hard enough to break anything, but definitely enough to make him let go and feel disorientated, and turned quickly to land a land a punch in his face. He groaned out in pain, and I staggered forward a little as my head began to feel light slightly, I didn't even have time to straighten up for he practically jumped me to the ground, his sword being knocked away the process. I lay face first into the mats, practically hissing at him, feeling his large hand pull my sword out of mine, and hearing it being tossed somewhere.

I felt him lift off my body for a few seconds, probably to adjust his own, and that was all I need to make sure I could elbow him once again in the face, and roll us over so that I was above him, straddling his waist. My forearm came to rest on his neck forcefully, just enough to make it harder for him to breathe, but of course his muscle would outweigh me anyway, and easily rolled us over once more pinning my hands above my head in one swift movement.

I hated him. I really really hated him. I wanted to spit in his face with how angry he had made me, but even I was above petty things such as that, he panted heavily as he lay on top of me, in between my legs, and to anyone else this may have looked like a very compromising position. My hormonal body actually had the audacity to make me blush at the thought of that, completely ignoring the fact that he had practically attacked me, my mind and I were in need of a long intervention later.

I struggled against the tight grip he had on my wrists for a while, but eventually gave up when I stubbornly admitted the attempt was futile. Cato then laughed quietly when we had regained our oxygen, his eyes looking slightly mad, reminding me of my father when he would yell in delight at a successful experiment.

"That was no beginners luck ginger."

"Get off of me you vermin!"

He ignored my insult, his blue eyes staring into my green ones as if he were trying to decipher something.

"Funny thing is … I could still tell you weren't putting you're all into it … which makes me kind of wonder about what you could be capable of."

I didn't say anything, I refused to engage in conversation about my life with this pompous idiot, luring me here under false pretences, only to turn around and charge at me with a very big, and very real sword. To me that didn't sound like the logic of a sane person, maybe the fame and fortune of being a victor was becoming too much for him, but to be frank I didn't care, I wanted him off of me.

"Make no mistake; I did bring you here to help you."

I scoffed, refusing to believe that he was at all serious when he said that, even if his eyes seemed to hold complete honesty. No Faith, stop looking into them.

"But .. I knew there was something off about you, the moment you got reaped I knew. You were way too sure and confident to lack any sort of battle skills, but skills on that scale is something else."

"Shut up."

He was digging a whole too deep for himself, the boy had no idea what he was talking about, what sort of crap he was meddling with. He couldn't be like the stupid attractive winner he was on TV and leave me be; he had to meddle around and practically stalk to just to cure his own boredom. I couldn't even knee him in his groin to get him off of me, thanks to our awkward position, and I was slightly becoming more flustered, due to his prying and close proximity. I was feeling way too nervous, it wasn't acceptable, I was supposed to be calm and hold my emotions down, but this idiot just brought out such a silly side to me, a side I wasn't used to. I didn't like it, at all.

He continued to stare at me with his piercing eyes, trying to make me speak, but he wasn't going to, I had more will power than that. He did however succeed in making me feel extremely uncomfortable, feeling his breath on my face, barely two inches away from each other; god I hoped no one walked in on this. There should be some sort of rule or something about your mentor not being allowed to physically touch you, stupid I know, but would definitely save me from a lot of the situations I found myself in with Cato.

"Get off of me."

My tone wasn't as harsh or demanding anymore, the anger seeped away from me, worn away like my body had, feeling twice as tired as I did before. I just plainly looked at him as I said it, our eyes not even blinking as he took those few seconds to listen to my words, before he sighed and lifted himself off of me, stretching his hand out for me to take. I ignored it and stood on my own, rubbing my wrists from where he had been holding them so tightly.

"No hard feelings ginger?"

His smirk was back in place now, acting as if nothing had happened. I looked at him, completely baffled by what had just left his mouth, this boy definitely had some sort of disorder, split personality or bipolar, anything would seem viable enough to explain that sort of behaviour from him.

"Piss off."

I pushed past him, walking at a fast pace towards the exit, hearing him chuckle and jog slightly to catch up to me, and I ignored his presence as we left, still angry at him for pulling something like that. He nodded towards the peacekeepers in thanks, sticking to my side the entire way to the elevator, feeling smug for a completely unknown reason to me.

"Don't sulk. At least you got some training before the games."

"I do not sulk!"

He nodded in mock understanding, earning another glare from me as the elevator rode up to our floor, I couldn't wait for when I finally got to say goodbye to him, then I could punch him the hardest I was capable of and intentionally break his nose, then I would never see him again. Thank god for that.

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**I've actually got FOUR THOUSAND hits on this story, blood hell. In all seriousness WHERE ARE YOU PEOPLE? Y U NO REVIEW? :( I joke I joke! Anyway I think I'm actually about a chapter away from the games starting! After the next one! So yaaaay! Finally some action, I've been itching to get to it!**

**REPLIES REPLIES REPLIES:**

**May: I shall! I promise!**

**saiyanprincess711: Ahaaaa I'm glad! Hope you're happy again for getting another one in the same weekend ;) And thank you I hope to keep pleasing you during every chapter! **

**wearethelight: .THANK YOU! It means so much to see you say that! Because your story is like "OMFG AWESOME" ... Lol I'm getting over excited now sorry! I hope you update soon! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and happy reading my friend! :D x**

**alwaysamarauder16: I thought the exact same, and It took me ages to think out a solid plot, and begin building proper characters, and i held onto it in my mind for so long, i eventually was just like what the hell UPLOAD! Hope you like this chapter and thank you for reviewing once more!**

**PeppermintAmortentia: I read it like as soon as I found the alert in my email! Hope you update again soon! And yes it does make sense, thank you for thinking so :D Until the next time my lovely! **

**silentxangel: Wow ... all I can actually say is fucking wow ... I didn't expect to wake up and see THAT kind of review when I checked my email! Took me completely off guard! First off I would like to thank you for taking time out of your life for writing such a beautiful review! Your complete and utter belief in my writing ability was so wonderful to know! And your insightful interpretation of my story and its characters honestly brought tears to my eyes. You got everything down to the T, and gave me such wonderful advice while you were at it, as soon as i finished reading it I got on the laptop and began writing up another chapter! You motivated me, so thank you for that! I know I shouldn't be biased towards reviewers but that honestly made me the happiest I've ever been when reading that big of a review, what was that like a whole page worth? I will actually openly to admit to have read your review more than five or six times, and will continue to do so, because it touched me that much! I feel so honored that you actually done that, thank you so much! I don't know what else I can say other than that, and I hope you know just how much I appreciated your review!**

**JennaRae: Thank you so much! I know I found that scene so cute and fun to write, It just makes me want to cuddle Mico, even if he isn't real it still feels like he is! and wow really? Oh my thank you so much for actually comparing me to susan's books! Even though I don't think I'm nearly as good as her it still means so much for YOU to think so! So thank you dearly, and hope you enjoy the rest of the book! **

**Dra9onf7yz: HAHA don't worry, when the time comes I'll make sure you thoroughly enjoy it ;) Thanks for reviewing again! One of my most loyal reviewers!**

**Onlygirl16: Awww well I'm glad to have made you happy by replying, I try to reply to all my reviwers, coz I think it's only fair seeing as they read review my story!**

**angel2u: Just to clear this up, because I don't want to confuse any other readers- No, Faith will not be starting the revolution. I don't want to say much else because then it will just ruin the entire plot, but that's all I can give you, I'm sorry and thank you for reading!**

**Shanice: Haaa thank youuuuuuu :) *cuddles* I'm happy that you find my story that good, and hope that each individual chapter makes you happy! I'll try to update at least twice during the week! Exams are starting so it'll get a bit tough!**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH ONCE AGAIN FOR ALL REVIEWING, AND FOR THOSE WHO DON'T ... START REVIEWING! XD I Joke I joke. HAPPY READING EVERYONE!**


	9. Stand

_"I' m Not Afraid To Take A Stand, Everybody Come Take My Hand, We'll Walk This Road Together Through The Storm. Whatever Weather, Cold Or Warm, Just Letting You Know You're Not Alone, Tell Me If You've Been Down The Same Road." - Eminem; Not Afraid._

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"So …?"

Karina looked to me eagerly, expecting an answer, her once rainbow hair now back to its full original blonde, along with a pair of wet look trousers and a gold studded corset, her eye make-up was black and heavy, completely her edgy biker look. It was once a very popular style in the old days, and Karina was determined to bring it back, saying it brought more life than all the bright colours people wore now, and I actually had to agree with her on that.

I twirled again for good measure as I looked at my interview outfit, a plain white dress that was rather tight, going down to stop at the knee's, and had a rather plunging neckline, managing to show nothing embarrassing, and left my back bare. As wonderful as it looked I was really fond of it, not because I didn't like it, but because of the situation.

"It's … nice?"

Karina raised an eyebrow at me, urging me to go on, and I lightly sighed, walking towards the vanity table's chair and collapsing in it exhaustedly.

"I just feel … exposed, and there's gonna be so many people there … I feel like I look weak."

Karina laughed, walking over to me to run her pale fingers through my straight auburn hair, she had flat ironed it beyond belief and had draped it over my left shoulder, a large gold hair pin in the shape of a leaf pinning it there. I wasn't stupid; I could see the pattern emerging, what she was trying to achieve, giving me some sort of trademark with the golden leaf accessory, she had included it on my tribute costume too.

Again she had left my make-up subtle, only covering my eyes in black and silver eyeliner, I enjoyed it as it made my green eyes shine more than they usually did, my pink lips coated in a shimmy lip gloss once more.

"I actually don't think you realize how intimidating you are … this outfit makes you look _anything_ but weak."

With that she left, probably to alert Cato and Gold that I was ready, both of whom I hadn't seen since this morning. I looked to the mirror once more, taking a shaky breath as I did so, and I just couldn't seem to fully appreciate Karina's work. My mind was much more occupied with what tonight meant; my last night in The Capitol, my last night with Mico before I had to fight for his life, my last night listening to Gold rants and finding them funny with the others, my last night with the ever sarcastic Cato.

He was absolutely horrendous of course, but that didn't mean I didn't like him, that much I could admit. I didn't even know what I could say about him, I couldn't even decipher what kind of relationship we had, if we could even call it a friendship. In only five days with him I had easily become accustomed to bickering with him, as much as I made out he annoyed me, he wasn't all that bad, I was admittedly wrong of my first assumptions of him- though he could still be unbelievably arrogant when he wanted to.

I had made friends since I came here, people who I enjoyed being around even if I didn't show it, and it was being snatched away from me, in the cruellest way possible. If I were a weaker person I would have probably started crying, but I couldn't afford to do that, I didn't want to upset the triplets by ruining their make up either, I had learned quickly that they could be scarily hysterical when they wanted to.

The Games never lasted long, they never liked to drag it out, it would probably be ended after about two weeks, and hopefully I was still alive by then, at least up and until the final three or something, which I had a feeling would be me Mico, and Julian. I cringed at the thought of him, thinking he must have been the devils spawn, no one could be that sadistic and cold hearted, it was just wrong. Killing was wrong in general, but then again no one seemed to understand that moral anymore, if it justified the cause of entertaining others, than anything was allowed here, they would probably feed new born children to crocodile mutations if they got a kick out of it.

I groaned thinking once again of just how many mutations would be included in this Quarter Quell; they were definitely going to make this one to remember. Cato had tried to use his connections, and the fact that he was a personal favourite victor to his advantages, and sought out anyone who could possibly leak him information on the arena; no such luck. Nobody was letting anything on, and it didn't matter which woman he wooed or which man he paid off, no one was going to spoil anything.

It touched me a little, seeing just how hard he was trying to give us an advantage, but then I would never let him know that, as I was still in a sour mood with him about the training room incident. How could he say I was sulking? I did not sulk. I was in a mood with him yes, but I didn't sulk, I wasn't a child, and even if I was sulking it was because I had a right to be, the boy practically ambushed me.

I wasn't completely horrible to him though, we had our childish bickering moments, only my insults were more harsh than necessary, but he took them in his stride, smirking even bigger and taking pride in the fact he had gotten to me. I ought to wipe it right of his face with the sword he attacked me with, give him a nice mark on that face he thought was so attractive, thinking it won all the women over. To an extent it was true, he was blessed with good looks, his strong jaw line was enough to make any woman fall at his feet, and it looked more prominent than it usually was when he clenched it in frustration, even I had to look at it at times.

Depending on his mood I could swear his eyes changed, when he was angry they would go dull, or when he felt rather pleased with himself they held a slight shine, while when he was behaving like a complete asshole they practically glowed, like the sun had caught it.

What was I even doing? Talking about the tones of his blue eye colour when my interview was in just less than thirty minutes? I really was loosing it, my mind was everywhere, it couldn't concentrate on one thing for more than five minutes, it would always some how lead to an inner monologue about Cato. Urgh, I couldn't be thinking about _boys_ when my life was hanging by a thread, I wasn't twelve years old, or those scary fan girls that hung outside the building to wait for when Finnick Odaire would come out.

I couldn't even concentrate properly when I had my sessions with Gold and Cato on what my approach would be in the interviews, Gold had gotten easily annoyed with me and huffed, telling me to just be myself and live with it. While Cato and I constantly argued on what I should and shouldn't do, all of his ideas relating to me looking like some brainless bimbo, apparently everyone liked a ditz, I didn't. He had eventually settled with me on just being polite as possible, and trying not to give sarcastic or rude replies to Caesar, which I didn't think I could, he genuinely seemed like a nice man.

My thoughts on Cato, my jittery body language, my agitation towards Gold; they were all just small little nervous habits coming together as The Games got closer. That was all it was, after all even the most confident of killers couldn't go in without feeling slightly worried, nobody knew how things would go down in there. Strangely enough I craved Cato's presence, his subtle and insulting comments that were made to make me feel better were needed now, he easily took my mind of what was right in front of me, and even if it was for only a little while longer I needed the stupid smirks and idiotic statements he made, because it made me feel normal. It was something neutral, something that balanced out my anxiousness from The Games and my determined will to keep Mico alive, it was something that was for me.

The door swung open, revealing Gold at the door bouncing on the spot excitedly, for once she actually wore an outfit that didn't contradict her name, which I was still debating on whether it was her real name or not, and wore a shockingly sparkling gold dress that flowed down to the floor, her long blonde hair was now curled and folded up into an elegant bun, a fancier version of what she had did with mine when I had arrived at the capitol. Her make up obviously matched her outfit, and she sported a pair of gold eyelashes along with a thick coat of gold eyeliner, her lips in the exact same colour.

She may look absolutely ridiculous with her outfits, but she definitely had guts to wear things so outrageously, so I gave her props for it, silently of course. She rushed in, grabbing me by my elbow and pulling me up, making me wobble slightly in the white heels I had been given. Pulling me with her out of the dressing room and down the hall, her sentences coming out as babbles, barely understanding her, probably giving advice on my interview, how she had taught me to sit, smile politely when Caesar compliments me, things she had already drilled into my head.

I knew for a fact right here and now that I wouldn't be able to smile at the Capitol audience, just the thought of them was enough my make me frown, me and Cato had practiced it in our sessions so many times, the only result was a large grimace, causing Cato huff in annoyance. I don't know why, because I really did try, but it was almost physically impossible, it was shocking to know I could hate someone that much. My hate for them could never compare for President Snow of course, I had dreams of ways that man would die a slow painful death, maybe feed him to the flesh eating cockroaches that had been let lose in one of the games many years or simply set him on fire and lock him in a room so he couldn't put himself out, as sadistic as it was all these ideas were very appealing to me, and I prayed that someday someone would be brave enough to do so.

The busy hall leading to the stage where Caesar currently was now was filled to the brim with tributes, mentors and prep teams, the odd technical member of the show running around trying to get us in order. Gold forced her way through, glaring at other escorts who dared say something, and I silently gave her a nod of approval, and maybe she wasn't as delicate as I once thought she was. I deliberately ignored Julian's and Sunny's glares as I walked past them, my shoulder accidentally shoving Julian's as I did so; I definitely just made this a whole lot harder for myself. Both of them once again wearing colours that represent their district, Julian wearing a dark blue tuxedo, which if I had to admit didn't look that bad on him, while Sunny wore a knee high light blue frilly dress, attempting to make her look sweet and innocent, when all of Panem knew that wasn't the case.

I made it to Mico, Cato and Drew in no time, smiling widely as I saw the beautiful white tuxedo they had dressed Mico in, a black bow around his collar fitting perfectly.

"Looking smart soldier!" He nodded, giving me a cheek grin before he poked my side.

"And you're looking beautiful as always Sergeant!" I smiled and gave him a tight hug, briefly turning to Drew who smiled shyly at me, I actually wondered if that boy ever spoke, I hadn't heard a single word come out of his mouth since I had met him, no one could be that shy, it was actually adorable.

"Well, you don't look a complete tragedy."

I narrowed my eyes at Cato, "You're funny. Hilarious actually, my sides are splitting ..." He rolled his eyes at my dry comment, "No, really … I'm dying inside of laughter, my heart cannot take you're wonderful humour-"

"Alright, alright shut up I get it." He waved his hands in the air, signalling his agitation towards him not getting a proper reaction out of me, and I smirked, turning away from him to watch the screen as the boy from District One rounded up his interview.

Neither his or his twins were anything special to watch; they played the whole glamorous and beautiful deadly pair of District One. The girl held a few girlish grins and winks towards the audience, while her brother smirked and gave sinister smiles as he spoke of the games. Mico was up before I knew it, and that was when my nerves really kicked in; I was hyperventilating inside as I watched him, breezing through it with cute jokes and waves towards the audience, often asking for a cheer or applause. The Capitol ate him right up, completely adoring him and his unknown ability of fighting, all eager to find out what it was.

I constantly tapped my foot on the spot as I watched him, his five minutes going extremely slow, yet not slow enough, I couldn't decided whether I wanted him to just leave the animals of The Capitol straight away, or to stay there as long as possible so I wouldn't have to go up. I was terrified and admittedly freaking out, blocking out the chatter and commands the technical teams were giving to each tribute and mentor, and the excited babbling of Gold. My stomach was in knots, and my heart was practically sprinting with its pace, and I had a feeling that I could possibly faint out of my nervousness, I was never good with crowds; I was going to be eaten alive by the millions of people present in the audience tonight.

Cato's hand wrapped around my shoulder and steadied me, giving it a slight squeeze like he had done that time on the train, he didn't say anything, nor did I really want him to. Nevertheless his presence calmed me, and my tapping stopped, my stomach slowly began to until it's self, but I still felt on edge, Cato wouldn't be able to come with me on stage to keep me from falling apart, it was a short lived feeling, but I held onto it as much as I could.

When my name was called he looked to me, sending me silent words, I wasn't sure what it meant, but I knew they were meant to be encouraging, and as his arm released me from his hold my skin tingled, missing the touch already. Gold and Karina said their good lucks and Drew nodded at me, I swear my breath hitched in my throat as a technical advisor guided me to the stage, and on passing Mico I briefly grabbed his hand to squeeze it, letting him know I was proud of his work.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, she dazzled our hearts and took our breath away when she arrived in her chariot … already nick named 'Faith of Troy', my friends I give you Faith Willows from District Two!"

Caesars booming voice echoed throughout the place, and the erupting cheers and screams of the audience almost deafened me, I was slightly shoved forward, causing to me practically stumble on stage. The sight was overwhelming, the sea of bright colours and screams were enough to make my ears ring, almost making my ears go numb, the blinding lights from the stage made my eyes hurt and if I didn't have Gold's manners drilled into my head I would have shielded them. I walked numbly towards Caesar, still in a daze at what lay in front of me, my mouth firmly set close to keep it from dropping open; oh my god I was going to be skewered by these people.

Caesar bent to kiss the top of my hand, guiding my numb figure towards our seats, where he placed me in a red leather couch beside him, which happened to be fairly comfortable. As I sat my sight went back to the crowd, still not over how many people I actually saw, and the fact that they were still screaming, they were screaming my name, _my _name, screaming for my death. I closed my eyes briefly, remembering the calm feeling inside me when Cato put his arm around me, and took a deep breath, opening my eyes to smile slightly.

Wow. I actually smiled, I should have Cato comfort me more often when I'm shitting myself, maybe then when I enter the arena I could even greet the Tributes. No Faith. Now is not the time for sarcasm, continue on with your fake smile, and do whatever the hell you can to get these people on your side so Mico can win.

Caesar draped an arm over the chair, microphone in the other hand, a cheesy yet endearing smile on his face as he looked towards me.

"So Faith, you looked quite the vision when you were introduced to us in the parade?"

I didn't respond, or give another smile, that was the only one they were going to get off of me, and it wasn't even to please the crowd, I couldn't even look at them without feeling sick to my stomach.

"Well, you have my stylist Karina to thank for that … she is a genius."

Members of the audience clapped, cheering on Karina who was backstage, I could imagine her smiling proudly at the pleased crowd, and Caesar chuckled, his arm moved to my shoulder, slightly turning me to face him.

"She may have wonderfully dressed you my angel, but it was _you _who looked positively beautiful … I've never seen anything like it."

My cheeks burned slightly, and I fought with myself to push it down, before looking Caesar in the eye and shrugging, "Thank you."

He chuckled once more, earning the laughs from The Capitol members, I swear no matter how rude any tribute was to this man it didn't sway his mood, nor did he ever react in a shocked way, he sucked it up and continued to play up to the camera's, his black eyebrows raised slightly as he face became more serious.

"Now, let's talk about your score …" I nodded my head, allowing him to go on, "you got a six." Again I nodded my head; it wasn't as if it was news to me, "I refuse to believe that score was to your full abilities, you must be hiding your true talents, don't you all agree?"

The cheers got even louder than they were before, and I swear I almost covered my ears from the pain of it, these people must have large wind pipes to be able to scream for this long.

"They gave me the right score for what I did at the time, that's all there is to it."

"Could we be expecting a Johanna Mason? Or do you really have the talent of a six?"

I shrugged nonchalantly, looking to the audience briefly with a blank stare, and I hoped to god that Karina's words were true, that I was intimidating and that that was the aura I gave off to them, I didn't care if they knew I hated them.

"Well people always say to not judge a book by its cover, but then I've always said 'what you see is what you get', so you never know … just don't completely write me off."

The crowd ooh'd and aah'd, as if I had told them some great secret, the memory of the advice Cato had given flashed through my mind as I answered that question, to leave some mystery, keep them intrigued, tease them with your words but don't give them everything on a plate. Caesar shivered slightly as if he felt a chill in the room, grinning widely as he looked back towards the audience, speaking with a booming voice once more.

"A little birdie told me that you left the training academy when you were sixteen, could that be why you got a six?"

My eyes widened slightly in shock, but not enough for the members of the audience to notice, they must have done some serious digging to get hat sort of information out, it's not like anyone in Two really knew. It was on my record yes, but that was about it, and those records were confidential, a small spark of fear crackled within me, knowing just who was doing the snooping to find out information like that.

"Well I can't exactly answer that can I? It would ruin any chance I have of surprising you, and we wouldn't want to do that would we?"

I was being sarcastic and bitter as I said those words, but the crowd must have been really stupid to not see that, and once again erupted into screams and cheers, my name being called my many and roses thrown in my direction, I winced as it hurt my ears more, probably going to ring for the rest of the night. That was the last I got to speak thank god, seeing as our time had run out, a loud buzzer echoing through the studio, and Caesar bid me goodbye, giving me one last extremely loud cheer from the audience. I gave an awkward wave before turning my back on them, holding my breath in and trying not to completely break down from the craziness of it all, it was too overwhelming even for me.

I followed a technical member through the backstage, leading out into the hallway, my faze in a daze as I left the millions of screaming people, completely unaware of both Karina and Gold engulfing me into hugs, they went by so fast, I didn't even register it properly, or when Mico hugged me around the waist, I only lightly put my hands on his shoulders.

I followed like a zombie as they continued down the hall, chatting happily over how well the thought they went, when really mine wasn't even that special, I didn't dazzle them in any way, my answers were short and mediocre, I didn't even make much of an impression.

My shoulder was shoved back with a large hand, and I went bumping into the wall, I snapped out of my daze to narrow my eyes at whoever did it. I should have known, only Julian would be as petty to do something like that, picking on me when I hadn't even done anything to provoke him. All eyes in the hall turned to watch our exchange with great interest, Julian looming over me with a glare and teeth clenched, my blank face staring back at him innocently.

"Think you're smart huh, getting a six? You don't fool me."

He stepped closer, sandwiching me between his bulking figure and the concrete wall, but I didn't cower away or allow any indication that he was intimidating me, which I 'll admit he did kind of do, not enough for me to fear him though. Julian may have been deadly, and dangerous, and insanely skilled with a trident or a sword, but it didn't mean I couldn't beat him; even the strongest of people had weak spots.

"You won't even get a chance to show off all the things you're hiding, you'll be the first to be skewered at The Cornucopia."

"I'm terrified."

He bared his teeth at me as his anger rose, fists clenching as if he were fighting to stay in control of his anger, he really needed to relax, if a normal girl like me could easily get under his skin, then he would be dead within the first twenty four hours of the arena if he allowed his anger to get the best of him, clearly not the smartest tool in the box.

"Why don't you take a few steps back?"

Cato's firm and demanding voice filtered between us, and I was more thankful for him coming to my rescue, Cato was larger than Julian, probably by a few inches, and I felt like a dwarf in their presence as Cato manoeuvred between us to glare at Julian. Finnick came up behind Julian and put a strong hand on his shoulder, silently warning him to back off; this would surely make the front page by tomorrow morning in The Capitol.

"No thanks. I like just where I am."

"I wasn't asking."

Julian's deadly green eyes clashed with Cato's fierce blue, a silent battle forming between them, and if the situation wasn't as serious I may have rolled my eyes at their attempt to be more masculine than the other, but Cato was helping me out; protecting me even, I wasn't going to insult him on that.

"Julian, back off."

Finnick's voice was actually like music, everything about the man was nearly perfect, and even I had to keep myself from staring into his crystal blue eyes, the man was unbelievably handsome, and his perverted, usually creepy, smirk he always held was gone, replaced with a look of seriousness and an aura of authority, much like Cato. Maybe now I could understand why they had become friends, they had a level of understanding and maturity after their victory from The Games.

Julian casted one last glare to Cato, before narrowing his eyes at me once again, my blank stare seeming to only infuriate him more. He huffed, turning his back on us abruptly and stalking down the hall towards the District One twins, mostly likely to rant about this incident.

"I'll take care of him later." Finnick's voice was quite, and spoke it quickly as he passed Cato, who only gave him a curt nod, before turning around to face me.

"You okay?"

I nodded, looking to my right to see both Gold and Mico with relieved looks on their faces; Karina's lips were set in a firm line. I knew what this meant; they were worried, because as soon as I stepped of that podium tomorrow my chances of dying had increased to a monumental scale, The Careers would definitely be coming after me first.

It's just too bad for them that I wasn't going down unless they went with me.

* * *

**Not the best chapter, not even much happening, it's more of just a chapter to build up everything that's going to happen in the next two ... so yeah it's mostly to just build up a climax, I'll have another chapter up tomorrow people! So don't worry! **

**Repliesssss:**

**DrMoustachioGirl: Haha yeah there is alot of that! It's quite amusing though in their cases, because they're both not the type to admit it! Anddddddddd we'll have to wait and see for that won't we :P Looool, erm I'll have to get back to you on that atm because I'm quite busy with my a levels atm, so yes I'll message you when I can abotu it :)**

**Dra9onf7yz: A magician never reveals his secrets ;) Haha it'll all come clear as the story goes on, Thank you for reviewing again and enjoy the chapter!**

**JennaRae: Well, I aim to please! And hope I continue to do so! Yes, I'm actually so pumped for when The Games start, I just have so much planned in my head for it! Gaahhhhh exciting stuffs! Thank you for reviewing again btw ! :D **

**angle2u: I hope it was clear after you read this chapter :) x**

**saiyanprincess711: I hope you enjoy the arena and the games, my mind has been going crazy with thousands of ideas, and I'm hoping it exceeds your expectations and that you enjoy every chapter of it! And awwwww thank you! I'm so glad you think so, it means a lot to me :D **

**PeppermintAmortentia: Haha I thought about doing in then ... but then I thought "nahhhhh make them suffer a little bit more :P" Haha Thanks again for reviewing, and can't wait for you to update yours!**

**Nelle07: Thanks! It's going to be so good hopefully, and yeah I can imagine it being hard watching your tributes in the games! **

**Biggestpotterhead: Haha I LOVE YOUR PIC! I totally stalk him on Twitter! He's amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank youuuuuuuuu! It's wonderful to know you enjoy my story so much, and hope that you always do! and I'm afraid it's going to be like that for a while :( sorry to upset you, but Faith needs to grow as a person and she's doing that on her own in the story!**

**onlygirl16: Thank you so much! So sweet of you, hope you liked the chapter! **

**wearethelight: Haha really? But i think your writing is JUST as good! I envy yours if anything! ... or is admire the right word? ha, yess lots and lots and lots of it! :P**

**Kaleidascope-eyes1990: Thank you so much, always glad to have another fan that enjoys my story! Happy reading and hope to see your reviews again! :)**

**thetridentinfinnickspants: Haha it was a really intense moment for those two, they're both just so big headded! and thank youuuuuuuuu! Enjoy the chapter!**

**mcgonagiggles: Thanks thanks thanks! and I will I will I willlllllll! ;) **

**Willow101: Awwww thank you, and yes I'll try to, anything to make you readers happy! **

**hazu23: Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll be updating again tomorrow!**

**CantCatchTomorrow: Ha did you really? Awww thank you! I'm sooo glad to help you get back into writing, it's always something easy to enjoy and an easy outlet! All good writers should never give up! And thank you for thinking all those things, I'm just trying to do it the best way possible so that others can enjoy and make it as memorable as possible for you all! And we MAY just get a chapter where we see that, but it's a possibility atm! :) Thank you for reviewing! **

**Anyways people, soprry for the typo's ... this one was sort of a rush and I'll edit it over the weekend! HAPPY READING MY VIEWERS! **


	10. Shot

_"You're The Boy Who Murdered Love, Cold Hands And A Heart Of Stone, You're Tainted Cherry Tree, You're The King Of Pain And Hurt, There's A Mark On Your Skin Where Your Heart Used To Be. I'm Shot Like A Bullet, Stop Oh You Love It, No Now You've Done It ... You're The Boy Who Murdered Love." - Diana Vickers; Boy Who Murdered Love._

* * *

It wasn't that I didn't appreciate everyone's attempts at a light atmosphere for dinner; but it merely made the whole knowledge of my imminent death more painful. I had changed out of my dress as soon as I reached my bedroom, now feeling dirty after Julian's hands had touched me. I felt so violated, yet I didn't understand why, I shouldn't allow someone as petty as Julian to get to me, but somehow he managed to make my skin crawl. I didn't fear for my life when it regarded him, I feared for Mico's, I was almost certain Julian had no idea of my true intentions, of my mission to make sure Mico won, but I still knew he would try to kill Mico as maliciously as possible, simply because he was associated with me.

Gold and Karina chatted happily about unimportant things, trying to make small jokes to keep both Mico and I smiling, who had kept strangely quite since my run in with Julian, while Cato glared at his plate as if he were in deep thought. Although the chatter and laughter flowed through the room easily, the thick unbearable truth of what tomorrow meant hung in the air like an elephant in the room, no one seeming to want to address it, not that I blamed them.

I fidgeted in my seat constantly, wishing I hadn't pulled my hair into a messy bun, as leaving it down would have given my fingers something to fidget with, temporarily calming the ever growing nerves. Mico ate quietly, his brown eyes staring forward into his place, holding no expressions, and I prayed to god that he wasn't finally beginning to feel the same amount of nerves I was, and that he did feel safe, because I was going to be there every step of the way.

"Gold … is that _really _your name?" Karina gave Gold a sceptical look, an eyebrow rose as she awaited Gold's response.

Gold laughed lightly at that, her eyes rolling and spoke with a patronising tone, "No silly! What parent would call their child Gold?" I had wanted to say that Capitol people were stupid enough to do so, but as usual when it came to Gold I held my tongue, "It's Evangeline, but I changed it to Gold … it just sounds more classier."

I couldn't help it, it happened by complete reflex, her statement was so ridiculous that I couldn't help but let out a small burst of laughter, covering my mouth as I did so, and setting off a chain reaction. Drew let out a quite chuckle like he usually did, with both Karina and Gold laughing musically; even Cato cracked a small smile, showing a different emotion other than frustration since we had exited the elevator from the Interviews. My smiling face caught his eye, and we held each others stare for a while before once again his face went back to its original expression and his gaze once again at his empty plate, apparently not hungry.

My worry for Mico rose, his face still blank as he stared at his uneaten food, playing around with it using his fork, not even a small smile had etched onto his face, I put my hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his daze to smile softly at him. He blinked, looking at me for a few seconds before returning back to the gaze at his plate, making no indication of talking.

"Mico, you haven't touched your food … is something bothering you?"

"You're leaving me."

That one line seemed to stop everyone in their current tracks, utensils falling onto plates, and small talk abruptly stopping, I didn't have to look to know that all four eyes would be locked on us; I was still recovering from what had come out of Mico's mouth myself. We hadn't spoken about me volunteering, or what would happen in the games, I didn't really think I needed to, I thought it would be obvious enough, and that talking about it would make it harder for Mico to accept. He clearly hadn't finished there with his statement; his voice broke slightly, as if he were holding back tears, and with every word that left his mouth the cracks in my heart got just that much bigger.

"You're gonna die and leave me on my own, I wont have anyone to tell me stories, or to nag me when I'm home late, or to sing me to sleep after I've had a nightmare, or to kiss me goodbye every morning for school. You're leaving me."

I took a shaky breath, turning my chair so it was facing him, and doing the same to his so that he was looking me in the eye, his face still blank, yet every ounce of pain he was feeling was conveyed through all the words he spoke, I tried to keep my voice steady, soft and comforting, hopefully not letting on just how afraid I was, thank goodness for me that it worked.

"Mico, you know that I want to be there for all those things every single day of your life, more than anything in the whole world. I just can't, I have to keep you safe … so that you can get older, and have a family, and do all those things with your kids that I do with you."

"But you are my family."

My tongue was tied. How was I supposed to respond to that? It was such a simple statement, yet carried such heavy emotions, so many memories and feelings that I had to blink as many times as I could to keep myself from crying; it physically hurt my chest listening to his words. I knew what he was asking of me, and he knew more than anyone how impossible it was, you could only ever have one winner, only one of us would get out, I had lived my life, there wasn't anymore I could possibly do except take care of Mico. But he had so much promise, so much life in him, so young that it was impossible for me to deny him of a chance at living, there was no way I would ever place my life over his, I would walk through fire if it meant saving Mico.

I knew the feeling that took over me every time I thought of Mico, it was one I had grown so accustomed to, and so easily at that, I couldn't imagine life without that feeling; maternal instinct. Just as Mico had said I was the closest thing to a mother, He was the closest thing I would ever have to a son. Despite my young age of eighteen I could barely remember a time when he wasn't in my life, when I wasn't taking care of him, and it didn't feel like a chore, or a nuisance, I found it a blessing, that I was given this young lively boy who took so much joy in life, and saw so much beauty in things.

"I'm tired of you trying to save me Faith, you can't always protect me … what if I got reaped next year? When you've become too old to participate in the games. What would you have done then? Sometimes you need to accept that life isn't always fair Faith."

I didn't expect such wise word to come out of Mico's mouth, nor did I expect him to be thinking along the lines of any of these words, if this was what he honestly thought of the entire situation, then I really hadn't been listening to him. I had been so set and narrow minded in just making sure he was safe, that I hadn't bothered to ask him how he was about it, how he felt, whether he even wanted to win.

My mouth opened, trying to find words to counter his argument, yet there was nothing that came out, because his words were true, as much as I didn't want them to be they were. He didn't seem to notice though, because he carried out, his voice breaking even more with every sentence, and his face slowly contorting into that of a frown, his brown eyes looking sadder than I had ever seen them.

"Don't you realize what it's gonna do to me to see you die? To know that the one person who's ever cared about me is gone, the one person I could ever call my mom has left me alone."

The large lump in my throat had formed so prominently, and no matter how many times I tried swallowing it down it stayed firmly put, warning me that if I couldn't hold on any longer I would eventually start crying. I used the back of my hand to rub my eyes, trying anything to keep the tears at bay a little longer, and through my pained face I still managed a small smile, something to reassure Mico as much as I possibly could.

"I won't really be gone Mico. I'll always be in here, with you through everything," I pointed to the spot above his heart, my finger lingering on his small chest as he bowed his head to look at the spot, "And whenever you need me all you have to do is speak, and I'll listen, you won't hear or see me but you'll feel me there. I promise."

His head returned to face me, our eyes locked as he digested what I said, his soft breathing seeming to be the only thing I heard as I waited for his response.

"But that's not good enough."

I don't think anyone had ever had the power to leave me gob smacked, yet time and time again Mico always seemed to some how do it, without even trying usually. My mouth hung slightly open, once again processing his words, and unable to move as he softly excused himself out of dinner, reaching the door and turning only once to let me know he would put himself to bed. I didn't dare look at anyone's faces, I didn't want looks of pity, or ones of shock at Mico's out of character behaviour, I wanted to crawl into a dark hole and never come out.

As I again tried to take a deep breath, the sounds of chocked sob was what met me, my hand flying to cover my mouth to stop any more from sneaking out. I could not be weak in front of these people, I couldn't be weak at all, and I couldn't break down now, not after holding on for so long, not when tomorrow was that most important day of my life. As much as I tried to repeat those words in my head they didn't seem to register with my over emotional mind, only images of Mico's face and what he had said replaying over and over, becoming almost unbearable to stand.

I may have been able to withstand a lot of crap, but I was still a teenager, and every teenager had a moment in time where they blew up. Unfortunately for me it had to be a day before I entered The Hunger Games, knowing my luck in life I couldn't say I was all that surprised. I cleared my throat, still fighting the waterfall of tears that would spill out any second, standing up from my seat and speed walking out of the dining hall, the tears falling as soon as I reached the door.

I bit down on my lower lip to stop loud sobs from escaping; allowing only silent tears as I sprinted to my room, attempting to be as silent as possible, the last thing I wanted was the already broken Mico see me crying my heart out. My hand covered my mouth as a sob still managed to get out, and gritting my teeth as I reached the door I couldn't have possibly been any faster in throwing it open, rushing in to slam it shut just as fast.

Only luck seemed to enjoy not being on my side, because before I could even get the door shut Cato's toned long arm pushed it back open forcefully, almost knocking me back, barging in and slamming it behind him, making me stagger slightly. I didn't have the energy to argue with him, or throw a snide comment his way, instead I turned my back on him, using the long sleeves of my whit shirt to rub the tears away, a constant routine as the tears never seemed to stop. Cato grabbed my elbow roughly, swinging me back around to face him head on, his hard angry face zeroing in on me, his jaw set firm.

"Stop it."

I tried to listen to his demand, knowing that he actually meant well, that he needed me to be calm, but I some how couldn't, instead another sob left me, and another, and another, the only control I seemed to have was to keep them as quite as possible. I looked the floor in shame, shame of the fact that I should have been able to keep it together, that I was meant to keep it together, because I needed to for Mico, and now I had felt like I let him down. Cato had barely even let me cry, and through the hard and cold look on his face I could still see the sympathy in his eyes; one that he couldn't afford to properly show, because he knew as well as I did how important it was I kept it together.

"You don't have the luxury of breaking now; you need to keep it together."

"I- I kn- know."

I barely managed to speak, my sobs still breaking through, and I gritted my teeth again, harder this time, shutting my eyes tight in a desperate attempt to stop, I hated crying with a passion, it always came in situations where it wasn't needed.

"Breathe."

Cato's deep and soft voice filtered through my ears, actually seeming to relax me, and taking in a few shaky breaths I inhaled, holding it for a while before exhaling, listening to his voice as he continued the same instructions, helping a great deal in calming me down. Finding his grip on my forearms a comfort, I made my no indication of me moving away from it anytime soon, instead I stood there, staring at his torso, repeating the same breathing routine, even though my crying had ceased.

Finally raising my head to look up at Cato's tall form, his face seemed to have softened from the hard look, now adoring a simple stare, a stare that I had always found uncomfortable, simply because of the unfamiliar feeling in stirred within me. His blue eyes looked as if they were an ocean of secrets, looking wise beyond his years, and for some reason all those hidden secrets drew me closer to him. My stomach tied itself into knots, my breathing becoming shallow as I continued to stare at him, my heart rate speeding up slightly at our ever growing closer proximity.

Completely unaware of my actions, I hadn't even realised what I was doing, until it actually happened, and even then for some reason I didn't stop it, possibly because I liked it. I don't know who kissed who first, or if it was a mutual movement between us, but what I did know was that the second our lips connected that small spark I constantly felt inside me turned into a fiery blaze, escalating out of control.

The tempo changed dramatically in a matter of seconds, at first testing each other, our lips coming together in short kisses, and I guess we both liked it as the next time our lips connected it was much fiercer. Cato's arms wrapping around my waist and pulling into a tight hold, so tight that I almost lifted off the ground, where as mine went to the black of his neck, attempting to pull him closer.

Our kisses were anything but gentle, lips smacking together harshly, while he bit my lip in odd patterns, growling if I repeated his actions, and the strangest thing about it was that I enjoyed it. For reasons completely unknown to me I didn't want this to stop, the strong fire coursing through my body was a feeling I had never relished in before, and only Cato seemed to be able to rise that feeling within me. Cato's lips moved from my bruised ones, suddenly feeling cold without his against mine, and trailed a series of kisses against my jaw, going towards my earlobe, and my breath was caught in my throat this time for a whole other reason.

He stopped, lips lingering just beside my ear, seeming to catch his breath as did I, speaking in a husky tone, his voice sounding flustered, practically whispering.

"I knew you were somewhere in there."

I didn't even know what the hell that was supposed to mean, not that I even got a chance to freaking ask, seeing as he only let me have a few seconds to register those words before letting go of my waist and taking a few steps back, slowly letting his smirk take over his face, as if he hadn't used it in a while and was getting used to it once more. My eyes narrowed slightly as I followed his back tracks with my own steps, my eyes hold a threat within them, if this was his way of playing with me, then he really was messed up.

I couldn't possibly ever understand him, five minutes ago he was trying to help me calm down, the next moment he's devouring my lips with his own, and then makes a completely confusing statement and tries to leave. I wished that I once again had my training boots within my vicinity, so that I could throw that at his head, but instead I chose to quicken my pace as his backwards steps got closer to my bedroom door. And I had just enough time to grab one of the many bottles of perfume on my vanity table before the door opened, and chucked it at his head, only just missing him this time as he ducked, seeming to have learnt his lesson from last time. I slammed the door shut as hard as I could, ignoring the fact that there was a shattered perfume bottle right outside my room, the sickeningly sweet scent of it already filtering throughout the entire floor, and let out a yell of frustration.

If he cared as much as he did about being a mentor, then surely his aim was to keep his tributes as calm and collected as possible, making sure no other thoughts or emotions preoccupied my mind other than confidence and battle strategy. Instead, he further messed with my already breaking mind, catching me off guard while I'm upset by kissing me, and then saying something that made no complete sense.

I probably would have understood it more if I wasn't still thinking about his soft lips against mine.

What the hell was I doing?

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**I'm like ... twenty one reviews away from a hundred! OMG MAN YOU GUYS ROCK! Sorry there must be so many typos on this, but I'm so shattered right now That I'll need to fix it later, I'm sorry! And I'm sorry it's late too! Work piled on ridiculously after my last update and I had to postpone, I hope you can all forgive me! :(**

**REPLIES: **

**BiggestPotterHead: HAHA Hi five for twitter stalking him! I love him! Andddd thank you for your kind words, and for thinkin it's written well/good plot/good character development1 It's means a hell of alot to me! :D Fear no more Teddie ( :P) You're update is here! Thanks for reviewing!**

**: Haha no way! Just making sure she knows how hard it's going to be, Julian is her biggest competition after all! :P And haha really? I didn't even mean to make him protective, it just looked liked that! But oh well me don't mind :3 Thanks for reviewing!**

**saiyanprincess711: I know exactly what you mean! Total freakout when you see a chapters been uploaded :D Thank you sooooooooooooooooooo much for all your kind words, it means the world honestly! And the arena is going to be so awesome I'm so excited for it, its unbearable!**

**Nelle07: Haha they got quality time alright ;) and urgh Julian, he's my own character and even I don't like him! haha thanks for reviewing and hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D**

**angel2u: Sorry, thats another question I can't answer! Because it'll reveal the plot . Sorry again and thanks for reviewing! :)**

**Kaleidoscope****-eyes1990: Thank you for thinking so! And making him protective honestly wasn't my intention, I didn't realize how it looked until after reading all the reviews! Haha oh well it still works! :D Thanks for reviewing again! **

**Wearethelight: YES! YES I DO! Andddddddd After I'm done with this I shall be going to read chapter seven of yours my darling ;) Can't wait! and urgh Julian is a douchebag!**

**Geranium08: I think I do! Because the fact you took time to review proves it! :D And yesh they had more time alright ;) haha and the story/skills will not let you down ;) Thank you for reviewing! **

**FYInichole: Welcome new reviewer! Always happy to have a new reader! And who doesn't? He's amazing 3 Haha Thankkk you so much for thinking so! It makes me so happy! Honestly check out two stories called Spark and Behind Enemy Lines! They're awesome Cato stories too! The authors are wonderful people too!**

**Dra9onf7yz: I'm glad you pointed that out actually, because that nickname is going to have a much more deeper meaning other than being likened to Helen! Stay tuned to find out my friend :D **

**PeppermintAmortentia: Awwwww thank you! :D Same goes to you darling! And I can't believe I didn't realize thats how it looked, I didn't mean to make him protective haha! I'll update soon, and you should too! (hint hint) **

**Wolfihood: Ha, I love his bad boy attitude! :P Ha we shall see soon enough if she really did deserve that six ;) Thank you for reviewing once again! **

**EmbrysGirl444: Awww thank you for your two reviews! And everyones entitled to their own interpretation, it doesn't mean they're wrong! Hope you liked this chapter!**

**onlygirl16: Thank you! I will!hope you keep on reading!**

**RavenclawSlytherin: Thank you! I'll try to as frequently as possible! **

**So that my friends is another chapter ... REVIEW REVIEW REVIEWWWWW!**


	11. Killing

"_Someone Told Me Love Would All Save Us, How Could That Be Look What Love Gave Us, A World Full Of Killing And Blood Spilling That World Never Can't. And They Say That A Hero Could Save Us, I'm Not Gonna Stand Here And Wait, Hold Onto The Wings Of A Hero, Watches The Hope Fly Away." – Nickleback; Hero._

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Karina got me ready in silence, her depressed emotions seeping out of her as she plaited my hair into a French braid, the last time she would be able to do so. My face was bare of make-up, not that it was necessarily needed, Karina had said once she thought I looked nice either way, and even if she attempted to I probably would have protested. I stared blankly at the wall behind her, as she pulled down the blank tank top that I had received, and fitting the thick black thermal leggings I had been given, the texture of it was strange, and felt almost waterproof, maybe there would be a large river I would have to swim through or something.

I had also been give rather large combat boots, stopping below my knee, and again it indicated that maybe we would be placed somewhere wet, damp, maybe it would be a swamp of some sorts. I knew it wouldn't ever be cold, simply because of the tank top I had been given, but the dark green hooded combat jacket that was put over it insinuated that it may get chilly. Maybe the second arena would be colder, but still warm, the jacket didn't look as if it would do any good in terms of getting wet, and it probably wasn't even waterproof.

I took a deep breath to calm my thoughts, all speeding through my head at a hundred miles an hour, mixing and confusing me more than they should, I was a mess. Thanks to Cato my head was jumbled, I couldn't stop my mind from thinking about our kiss, and every time the scene replayed in my head a blush appeared, remembering the feelings I had had. I shook my head, trying to make the thoughts disappear, I would be boarding a hovercraft in less than ten minutes and all I was doing was thinking about how good his lips felt against mine, my priorities were really messed up at this current time.

My only happy thought was that Mico had come by to my room not long after Cato had left, and we had made up rather easily, apologizing to each other, and he had stayed in my room that night, falling asleep to the sound of my voice, the last time I would tell his favourite story of Achilles. It gave me hope, hope that he would be okay after this, that he could pull through and become stronger than he ever was before.

Karina walked around me to stand in front, giving me a sad smile, and taking one of my hands to squeeze it tightly, she was probably the only person I could call a friend, someone who actually cared about what I had to say. It seemed so cruel to know it was being taken away from me, after having so little time with it, all of it, the fancy dinners, the beautiful dresses, extravagant bathrooms, all of it was almost a tease, egging us to kill as many as we could if we really wanted this life style, it was so subtle yet so unbelievably clever.

"It was the greatest pleasure working with you Faith."

I nodded, offering a small smile myself, before she let out a mournful sigh and left my room, probably to head to the main lobby to watch the countdown with all the other stylists. I fiddled with the leather bracelet around my wrist, remembering all the memories that came with it one last time, thanking whatever god there was up there for giving me such happy memories, memories that would always be mine, and no one else's.

Mico and I had been separated this morning after breakfast, boys and girls were sent to the arena in different hovercrafts, so I wouldn't see him now until I was raised onto my podium at the Cornucopia, lucky for us we had already debriefed each other on what was to go down. I felt extremely anxious as I thought of him, wondering what he was feeling right now, whether he was just as afraid as I was now, or thinking of what weapon to get to easily, or if he was thinking about what environment was set in whichever arena we were let into.

For a split second I wished that none of this was happening, that Mico and I were just sat at home, waiting for the count down to begin ourselves, with Mico bouncing on the spot and rooting for his District to win, me sitting there boredly with a cup of hot chocolate in my hands already waiting for the show to finish. But the fact of the matter was that there was no point in wishing, because this was happening, and someone else was sitting at home doing that very thing and waiting for us to appear, I had to deal with it.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my daze, and I turned to see the now opened door with Cato waiting there, a firm encouraging look on his face as he nodded his head, indicating that it was my time to go. I took a deep breath, doing a once over of my room, looking at all the beautiful things The Capitol had allowed me to use for a short time, thinking of the small but significant memories that had occurred while being in this room, taking it in for the last few seconds I had, and carving them into my memory. With that I turned around, walking towards Cato and leaving this all behind me, never to see it again, not looking back once as I walked in a fast pace towards the elevator, Cato's heavy but fast footsteps just behind me.

The ride up was painfully slow for me, something I should have been happy about, yet it only felt like it was postponing the inevitable, I just wanted it to hurry up now, to be over and done with.

"Remember what I said about the Cornucopia; if something's close then go for it, if not then don't risk it."

I nodded softly, my breathing becoming slightly heavier as I noticed the lift getting closer to the roof, my heart beat speeding up as I thought of how in no less than twenty minutes I would be standing on a podium, looking at the faces of who would try to kill me, or vice versa. Kids. All kids who were either the same age or younger than me, just as afraid as I was, just as badly wanting to go home and to return to their normal lives, just as horrified at the fact that they would have to talk someone's life away.

All except the Career's obviously, this was what they lived for, what they were trained and brought up to do, it was the only way to bring honour to their District and families; and in that way I pitied them. Because they would never really find their own happiness, just constantly working to make someone else happy, never knowing any feelings other than greed or animosity, it was saddening. I closed my eyes in anticipation as I thought of Julian and Sunny, images of their insane skills during training passing through my mind, I definitely had my work cut out for me, but no one said these games were a walk in the park, it was always going to be hard.

"You'll watch over him for me right?"

My voice was barely above a whisper, too afraid that if I said it any louder than this would feel more real than it already did, my stomach dropping a considerable amount as I waited for Cato's answer.

"Of course."

"And you'll make sure that's he's coping okay, with school and stuff?"

"Everyday."

If there were camera's in here then all they would see was the hard determined look on Cato's face, while mine would have been a blank canvas, portraying the perfect picture of District Two citizens, yet in reality it was the exact opposite. Cato's voice wasn't soft or comforting, but it was low and deep, as if sharing some sort of secret, and I silently thanked him for that, knowing it was comfort in his own way.

I don't know why I did it, whether it was my own way of thanking him, or if it was to comfort and reassure myself, but all I know is that it certainly did make me feel that little bit better. My small hand slyly reached for his own, loosely holding onto it and squeezing it ever so slightly, it only last a few seconds, and when I was about to let go his hand tightened on my hold, keeping it in place. It once again light a spark in the pit of my stomach, one that I would now admit I enjoyed, and suddenly I felt morbid for a whole different reason.

I don't know what was going on or what I felt for Cato, I wasn't even sure if he shared the same thoughts as I did in my head, but whatever was happening had been taken away before it even began, not even giving me a chance to see what it was, if it was something real or just a game. I guess it was my fault, for behaving so hostilely towards him in the first half of the week being here, if I was more willing to co-operate it may have progressed.

Yet in some way I was thankful, because if there was something there, and I had acted on it, it would have been even harder to enter the arena than it already was, especially since I knew my fate. Besides it wasn't as if Cato would be really affected by my death, he had women falling at his feet every minute of the day, and every year he would get a new female tribute to mentor, just because I was his first it didn't make me any more special. The fact that he had allowed me to keep hold of his hand was probably his last kind act, giving me at least this much as I wouldn't be returning alive, but in a black casket with whatever was left of my body.

His breathing was steady and shallow, and his bulking chest stood out in his black T-shirt, once again looking too small for him, yet still managed to pull it off. I looked to him out of the corner of my eye, not wanting to turn my head, and saw that he was looking straight ahead, glaring at the metal doors of the elevator. I wondered what it was like to be a mentor, to tell children you're age how to survive, to watch them die on a screen.

All too soon he released his hold on my hand, and the lift doors opened, revealing the sunlight sky of the roof, with the large hover craft not too far from us, other female tributes boarding as they went, everything felt too loud as crew members shouted over the loud engine that was in full swing, getting ready to take off.

I turned around to look at Cato, who stood just in front of the now closed elevator doors, and for a few moments we stared at each other, sharing a silent goodbye. It wasn't as if there were any words that could exchanged between us at this point, or for anything of that matter, and I seriously doubted he would try to kiss me again, even he wouldn't be that stupid to mess up my up so close to the start of the games.

"It's time to board District Two."

I briefly looked behind me, one of the peace keepers yelling over the noise and using his hand to motion for me to join him, I recognised him as the old looking man from that night Cato had been allowed into the training room after hours. Looking back to Cato his face had hardened even more, and nodded towards me, I nodded back, taking a deep breath and turning around to walk away.

"Faith!"

I stopped abruptly, turning to see what Cato wanted to say, he looked hesitant, mouth open as if he were deciding how to word his next statement, and I found myself hanging onto to it, looking to him almost eagerly. He then sighed, letting his gaze drop for a second before looking back up at me, voice firm and steady like it had been before.

"Give Four a run for his money."

I nodded, finding that I had done that way too many times in the last hour, simply because I had no words to say, yet a small said seemed to say so much more than words ever could.

"Twin Sai's."

"What?" Cato's eyes furrowed in confusion at my words, and I let out a small smile as I explained.

Twin Sai's, that's my specialty. My main weapon."

A wide boyish grin spread across his face a few seconds after that, one that looked so out of place on his perfectly chiselled face, yet looked so perfect at the same time, fitting him more than a smirk or glare ever did. Those were the last words that were exchanged between us, and once I boarded the hovercraft things passed by me in a daze, not paying attention to the glares I received from Sunny and the girl from One, but then again I'm sure they pretty much gave every girl here a glare. I didn't even notice the tracker they placed in my arm before I felt a small sting; I glared at the sheepish woman, mainly for the fact that she had done it so carelessly.

The flight to the arena was completely silent, every girl on here in their own world either fearing their death, or thinking of ways to kill each other, I was mulling over both. The latter of my thoughts mostly focused on the Career group, who were probably enjoying the fantasies in their heads of how to kill others, and if the other Districts stayed away from me, then I had no reason to hurt them. My mind briefly flickered back to Mico, who was mostly likely already in the arena, waiting to step into his cylinder podium and be raised up; I wished for that briefest moment that I could give him one last reassuring hug.

It didn't matter though, because as soon as the buzzer sounded for us to get off the podium's he was the first person I was running too, luckily for me that I was a fast sprinter.

When we landed each of us were assigned to two Peacekeeper's, who guided us in different directions, the grey dull walls of the building was depressing enough, it was almost as if they were trying to depress us all, remind us how close we were to death. Assholes. The few minutes I got on my own were barely enough, and flew by almost as quick as the flight here did, and without a second though I walked onto the podium; remember to plaster the fiercest look I could muster on my face, camera ready like Cato had taught me. I only allowed myself one deep breath, preparing myself as I felt the podium begin to move, lifting me upwards.

The first thing I felt was the humid air of the arena, the thick musky smell of plants, and I could already tell I was going to be sweating a lot if I spent most of my time in this arena. When I began to see the environment I realized I was right, there would be water.

My podium was place on the side of a river bank, the dirty brown water of a strong and wide flowing river in front of me, along with a line of other podiums on both sides of me, other tributes taking in their surroundings. There was also an identical set of tributes on the other side of the river bank, Mico directly opposite me, looking at the thick and large green jungle trees around us. The tree's and bushes around us were unusually big, looking moist like a real jungles would, and the tree's looked large and steady enough to hold people in, tightly wound together with its branches, clearly easy enough to travel through them.

Right in the middle of the river, for all the tributes to see was a small plot of land, big enough to hold the Cornucopia on it, and this yeah It was strangely thin, nothing at all like the large silver one from last year, this time it spiralled upwards into a triangle, reaching extremely high, and the weapons and supplies barely fit into it, almost falling out and into the river. This was going to be one hell of a bloodbath, it looked like there was barely any room to even stand there, let alone fight, many of the tributes were going to easily drown as it was.

They wanted us to swim to The Cornucopia, and knowing that some Districts didn't even know how to, many of them would easily drown as soon as they even jumped in there. Not far into the mountains of District two there was a small waterfall and lake, hidden my miles of high rocks, and the only reason I had found it was because I enjoyed hiking. In the winter the entire thing froze over, making it almost useless, no one even bothered trekking up the mountains when there was miles of snow, but in the summer however, when the heat was too much, I'd take Mico hiking, and rewarded him with a swim in the lake. Since the water had come from the highest peaks of the mountain, it managed to stay freezing even in the ridiculous heat.

From the moment I'd found till the day I had volunteered I spent countless summers swimming there, teaching myself and then Mico, so luckily for me I wouldn't find this as hard. It would still be difficult though, since the current of the river looked like it could drag you along if you stopped paddling for even a second, and I knew from then that this was probably to help District Four gain weapons easily, since they were the best.

I took that time to scan the tributes here, who were all bracing themselves as the count down began, and I searched hard as I couldn't see where Julian and his partner were, in fact many of the tributes weren't here. If I counted, there were only six, District One, Two, Five, Six, Nine and Ten. There others must have been released into the second arena, trying to create a bigger blood bath than usual I see, and I almost let out a sigh of relief, thinking that maybe the odds were in my favour this time around.

Thinking how lucky I was that the Career alliance had been split, that Julian wouldn't be here to swim first to the Cornucopia and still have time to throw his trident into my abdomen, instead I thought that this was the Game makers plan, they didn't want me killed off just yet, they were saving mine and Julian's fight, they wanted it to be as entertaining as possible.

I shook my head, narrowing my eyes towards the Cornucopia, before making eye contact with Mico right opposite me, having the exact same idea, knowing we had an advantage for now; we were both going to swim to the Cornucopia. His eyes moved back to the Cornucopia, crouching down slightly and preparing himself to jump as the count down went into the last thirty seconds. He was dressed similarly to me; only instead of the black tank top he had been dressed with a plain black t-shirt.

"_29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20.."_

Focus Faith, look at what weapons and pack are closest to you, one back pack, that'll do for the both of us, get a weapon that's efficient and not heavy enough to slow you down. Near the back pay lay both a double sides axe, the second weapon was a long but thin Egyptian sword, curved to make it easy to slight a head off, I remembered Thresh from District Eleven using it the year before. That was what I would take, it would be much easier to use, a lot lighter, something Mico could take hold of as well, if I had enough time then maybe I would think about getting the axe. For now those two assets were all me and Mico would need, and we would definitely be the first to get away from this river.

"_10, 9, 8, 7, 6 .."_

I crouched down like Mico had, ready to jump off my podium as soon as the number one was uttered from the game makers lips, my hands clenched into fists and my eyes narrowed towards The Cornucopia. I could do this.

"_5, 4, 3, 2 ,1!"_

I leapt off the podium, diving head first into the water, the first feeling that came to me was that it was warm, and the current was indeed strong, much stronger than I anticipated. I pushed myself up out of the water, my lungs taking in as much air as possible, and as fast as I could began kicking my legs as fast as possible through the water, my hands paddling as much as they could, it hurt to push against the force of the water, but I carried on, knowing what it would mean if I stopped.

The River was too wide for my liking, and placing The Cornucopia in the middle of it was their clever way of making us sweat and suffer to get to it, merely minutes of swimming felt so much longer, and by the time I reached The Cornucopia and pulled myself up out of the water, I took far too many seconds to catch my breath, looking to see that both tributes from Nine were actually drowning, while the twins from One were quickly getting closer to the Cornucopia, both with glares directed towards me.

Mico joined me quickly, just as out of breath as I was, already holding a dagger in one of his hands, sheathing it into a small belt he was adjusting onto his waist, a determined look on his face, and quickly I swung the black backpack onto my back, grabbing the Egyptian sword I had been eyeing previously, and pushed my already tired legs up, running behind Mico to his side of the river bank, about to follow him in as he jumped in the river.

Suddenly I was yanked back, someone grabbing hold of my back pack and throwing me to the floor, the female from one grinning down at me evilly with a large silver sword pointed in my direction, looking as if it could easily slice through me should she chose to. I briefly looked to Mico who was still swimming back towards the river bank, knowing he would be smart enough to run without me once he realized the situation.

"Where do you think you're going Two?"

Her bright green eyes twinkled in blood thirst, and her blonde hair was pulled back into a hair pony tail, showing just her perfectly defined her jaw line was. Narrowing my eyes into slits towards her I tightened my hold on my own weapon, already knowing by the way she held the sword and stood with it that she couldn't use it properly, instead I guessed it was the first thing she grabbed onto when arriving to The Cornucopia in her rush to get to me.

My body tensed on the floor as she began walking forward slowly, menacingly, as if she were playing with her food. I wasn't going to die yet, not now and not today, and I was going to prove that by making sure she wouldn't be able to raise that sword with her arms ever again. All too suddenly she let out a yell and raised the sword, me quickly rolling over as it connected with the ground, hitting nothing but dirt, I pulled myself up quickly, agilely, and crouched down in an animalistic way as she recovered from her small shock, a glare fixing it's self on her face as she lunged towards me.

Both our weapons clashing with a loud bang, almost feeling like it echoed throughout the entire arena, and I was more than positive that every single person in Panem was sitting on the edge of their seats, intensely watching the first battle to commence in the 75th Hunger Games.

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**Shittttttttttt! We hit the 100 review mark! Bloody hell, twenty one reviews on ONE chapter? Flippin hell you guys actually are friggin awesome, like really, it made me so happy when I saw that his morning, my jaw DROPPED! Hopefully we can keep all those awesome reviews up, and gaining more from my other readers! :D **

**Replies (twenty one hehe):**

**HermoineandMarcus: Thank you so much! Glad you liked the last chapter and that this one is awesome to you too!**

**Geranium08: Haha bet you didn't think you could make one chapter sad but hot at the same time ehh? ;) And ahaaa really? Wow thank you! Hope you don't spend too long wondering what happens next after reading this one! And just stay patient and you'll get to see what will become of both Faith and Mico throughout the next chapters! **

**RavenclawSlytherin: I'm possibly thinking about doing a chapter in his POV, but it's still just speculation at this point, we'll see how things go :D Thanks for reviewing!**

**Saiyainprincess711: Awww glad it made you happy to know that it finally happened, and I hope you didn't get to upset about the scene with Mico and yeah sure, just like PM your e-mail address, and then you can e-mail me with what you've done for far, and I'll help you with it **

**WeAreTheLight: DW, I'm in the UK too and I was up at three posting that chapter! And awww I'm sorry it made you that upset, but still glad that it honestly moved you! And I more than enjoyed your latest chapter, hoping for another one ASAP! ;) **

**Embrysgirl444: Thank you! And that is completely up to your own interpretation! Let me know what you think it meant ;) **

**JustAPersonWithAPony: Newcomers to my story are always welcome! So welcome! Thank you thank you thank you! Glad you think so, and I love Alexander as much as you do SERIOUSLY! Ha go ahead and marry it, I'll be the maid of honour! And hope you like this update!**

**C0t0rt3d M1nd: Ha I'd seen that you subbed while I was in the middle of uploading it, always have my hotmail in another tab open! I'm afraid I can't answer that question sorry, but just keep on reading to see what does happen! I'm just as excited as you are to see this unravel out! Thank you for reviewing and hope you enjoy the rest of the story! :D**

**Dra9onf7yz: Thank you, thank you and thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu 3 Hope you like this chapter just as much as the last my loyal reviewer! **

**Anon: haha thank you for thinking soo! Hope u like this chapter too! **

**BiggestPotterHead: Hehe, yes they did! About time I guess eh? And aww I do too, although she can be a pain in my backside sometimes! But I still love her to bits! Yes you are correct in that, the games have started, and going to be intense! Maybe you'll get to see Cato, maybe not ;( Stayed tuned for that and thanks for reviewing! **

**Nelle07: Gahhhh neither would I! I think I'd totally cry! He's just so cute! And Yeah Faith would definitely go crazy, hopefully he stays fine! Thanks for reviewing my lovely x**

**ScarsTellStories: Thank you so much for enjoying my story, and for having such wonderful things to say about my writing and characters! It means a lot! I will do and keep up the reading! :D **

**IAmSweetInnocence: Don't be silly, everyone's entitled to their own opinion! And even if it was a rant I wouldn't mind because I take all my reviewers opinions into account! I can understand why you would think that about Faith, but that part of her was intentional, she has spent a large part of her life while growing up looking after a younger child she loves, and because she lives in a District where they glorify the Hunger Games she automatically puts them all in one category she hates and isolated herself from everyone. I made her to have flaws, and her bullheadedness and stubbornness is not a personality trait I want to be admired, but in fact the opposite, she's meant to learn the consequences of having such traits throughout her time in the arena. After all she is still just a teenager and through this she learns to change and grow, hopefully becoming a better person! So that's why she has those aspects to her personality Hope you like this chapter! **

**Writergurl1994: Ahaha sorry If I keep you waiting too long sometimes! I do try to update as much as I possibly can! And don't worry I wont, I honestly love this story WAYYY to much to ever give up! And awww I'm glad I made your day better, even if it was in the smallest way! Don't get too down, and remember to always turn that frown upside down! :D **

**DragonflyMaiden: Thank you! Glad you do, and that you enjoy the story as it comes along! :D **

**Zunzun14: OMG THANK YOU! I cry so easily, so when reading a lot of books I cry! Like when Rue died OMG I balled like a baby! And thank youuu! Haha my reviewers motivated me! ;) :P **

**AlwaysAMarauder16: Aha yes he did! Cheeky prick isn't he? And thank you, I thought it would be too OCC if he got all romantic on her after that! And thank you so much! Mico's part was difficult to write hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**Death'sInevitableKiss: Thank you so so much! Hope you like this chapter just as much as the last!**

**Angel2u: Gaaaah! I'm sorry! Again I can't answer that question Revealing the plot if I did so sorrryyyy! Xx **

**Heythere123: My 100th reviewer … Fuck yeah. You made my day by hitting the 100 review mark! I grinned so much! Thank you so much, always love getting new readers! I will do and enjoy reading! **

**Wow … that took a lot of time! Anyway I wont bore you anymore … except to say GO REVIEW … GIMME GIMME MORE! GIMME GIMME! (I'll stop with the Britney Spears lyrics now XD) **

**Happy reading my lovely readers! **


	12. Rise

"_Mirror On The Wall Here We Are Again, Through My Rise And Fall You've Been My Only Friend. You Told Me That They Can Understand The Man I Am, So Why Are We Here Talking To Each Other Again." – Lil Wayne Ft. Bruno Mars; Mirror._

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She definitely couldn't wield a sword, she probably hadn't even tried to learn back in her District, big mistake on her part, when living in a world like this you had to have at least an idea of several weapons to use, after all if you ever got reaped you needed some chance to live. Her stance was completely off, and she barely managed to withstand the weight of the sword, her blows were slow and sloppy, and because of this she often staggered due to uneven balance. Luckily for me her twin was busy slaughtering other tributes to intervene and help her, otherwise I probably would have been dead meat, and the time I spent in our dual was to figure out her style and patterns, memorise where she threw blows and where she favoured blocking mine.

I ducked another time as she swung it at my head, moving forward to hit the butt of my sword into her face, causing a yell of anger to erupt from her small lips, and stagger backwards slightly. I didn't think I'd broken her nose, but it was definitely bleeding, she took a moment to wipe the blood away, looking at her hand and glaring towards me.

I tuned out every other sound that could be heard in the arena, blocking out the battle cries from both of District One, and the cries of pain from who ever her brother was attempting to kill, the splashes and crashed as the water hit the river bank was just another muted sound to me. I zeroed in on One's technique, blocking and dodging her hits as fast as I could, and she seemed to be finding it hard to keep up, getting out of breath quickly, her cardio was definitely not up to date. I hadn't properly attempted my own blow at her since our fight had begun, only rolling out of the way or blocking her sword with my own, but I had been slyly taking notes, quietly observing the way she only ever used her right hand to use the sword, where as I changed between both, and the way she only swung her sword from the right, leaving her left side from abdomen to shoulder completely bare.

It was as if she were asking for me to attack that side, she made it all too easy, extremely amateur for a Career, I just hoped for her sake that her skills with her large rope were on such a high level that that was the reason she wasn't as prepared with real weapons. I waited for her to try again at hitting me, this time going lower than my head, and attempting to skewer me in the stomach, I spun around, moving to my right as she staggered forward from her miss, and delivered a punch to her cheek as she used those precious few seconds to recover.

As she fell onto her knees from the impact of my punch I followed her previous actions, except yanking her back by her hair and plunged my curved sword into her left shoulder, twisting it slightly and winced as I heard her screams of agony. I knew where I had hit her, and it the sword didn't puncture anywhere near her heart or lungs, it just injured her, and maybe if she didn't have the right supplies she could die of eternal bleeding, but she was going to have the entire Cornucopia's supplies with her brother, so I didn't need to worry about that.

"Wiley!"

Her brother's strong and angry voice yelled out as he heard her scream of pain, in the middle of pulling a large black triangular flail out of the throat from the District Six boy. I didn't waist another second, pulling out my sword as swiftly as possible, and turned on my heel, jumping into the water as fast as I could, and swimming towards the river bank. He wouldn't come after me, especially now that his twin was injured, but I knew that he would hold a vendetta against me, probably already looking forward to when he crossed paths with me again.

I felt Mico's small hands help me out of the water, my body soaking wet but not at all freezing, it was too hot and too humid to ever be cold here, hopefully it would stay warm even when night approached, I let myself have a second to regain my breath, pushing the wet loose strands of my red hair out of my eyes, before I stood to my full height. Mico's curly hair slowly dripped with little droplets of water, taking my hand and pulling me deeper into the jungle, the sounds of battle cries soon dying out as we delved deeper.

The place was beyond beautiful, with lush green bushes and bright coloured flowers swarming the entire place, I had to use my sword to slash away the bushes in order to create a path, my boots already muddy from the moist earth beneath us. Every time I inhaled nothing but thick clean air filled my lungs, it felt so much fresher than the real air of Panem, which almost felt overly polluted and suffocating, it was strange how I could feel free in a compact arena. I bet this was how they lured their tributes in, making them feel safe and free in the arena, only to have creatures and blood thirsty mutations lurking in the darkness waiting to eat off of your flesh.

I didn't stray too far from the river, which seemed to go on forever, maybe it even led to the second arena, but we need a water source, and luckily for me I had a purifier in the backpack I had grabbed, allowing Mico to dampen his dry throat till his hearts content. We'd have to stop soon, seeing as it was already beginning to get dark, and the bloodbath in both arena's was sure to have been over many hours ago, I looked up ahead of me towards the thick trees above, branches from every stump weaving together and making it seem as if it were another world above there, it would be se easy to climb up, so easy to travel through the trees and have their thick branches and leaves cover you from everything else.

They would definitely be the perfect place to sleep, safe and out of harms way, I'd keep watch just in case there was any strange creatures lurking in side them, but other than that we should be okay. After the events of today I was positive no other tribute would want to go looking for trouble in the night, especially in an environment that they had no idea about.

"You think Cato's proud of us for making it past The Cornucopia?"

I smiled slightly as I turned back to look at Mico, who looked just as tired as I felt, his shoulders sagging from all the walking we had done, and his eyelids looked as if they were getting heavier. I stopped beside a strong looking tree, motioning for him to climb ahead of me, and gave him a lift up as he ascended into the trees.

"I think he's proud of you Solider, he's probably running his hands through his hair at the fact that I didn't kill District One."

"And why didn't you?"

His voice came out slightly strained as he pulled himself up the trees, going higher up as more thick branches began to appear, allowing him more leverage to climb. I followed swiftly behind, finding it slightly easier as my arms were longer, moving at a fast pace with my sword tucked into my belt, trying to make as little noise as possible in case anyone was near by.

"I don't know, I just didn't."

I hated the Career's that was for sure, only I didn't want blood on my hands just yet, I had injured her and that was enough for now, I didn't want to say I had killed someone within my first day of The Games, I didn't want to brand myself a killer until it was absolutely necessary to do so. It wasn't like she was much of a threat anyway, if I had been at home watching that battle I probably would have laughed at her poor sword skills, it was painful to endure. I wouldn't underestimate her however, she was cold blooded and lethal in her own way, her lack of skills in one weapon didn't mean she wasn't fantastic in others, she could be an expert at spears for all I knew, so I would stay out of their way as much as possible and hopefully the Careers killed each other in their desperate attempts to win.

"That could cost you your life you know."

I had to let out a little chuckle as Mico's tone tried to be scolding, reminding me of the days I had spent in The Capitol before the arena, smiling fondly at all the memories with everyone.

"Okay Cato, just stop when you reach those two big branches over there."

The only response to my joke was a small laugh, and Mico swung one leg around the branch as he balanced himself on the thick branch, which was covered in large green leafs, more than enough coverage for tonight, especially in the pitch black dark. Mico leaned on the stump of the tree, taking a deep tired breath and closing his eyes briefly, before opening them once more.

"I'm hungry."

I smiled at him as I reached his spot, coming to sit opposite him with both my legs on either side of the branch, it was tangled in deep with another that belonged to the next tree, making it very easy for just to travel too if needed.

"There's beef jerky in the backpack, eat as much as you want, I'll be right back."

I took off the backpack and placed it in front of him, standing up once more to climb higher into the trees, hoping to reach high enough so that I could overlook the entire arena, and when the branches began to think out slightly I knew I was high enough. I looked over the landscape; it was completely breathtaking to see the arena, although I knew none of it was truly real, I still looked in awe the seat of lush green trees, many higher than the one I occupied now.

The sounds of mockingjays singing and the whistle of other breeds of birds filled my ears beautifully and echoed across the entire arena, the thick and wide river could be seen from anywhere, extending from one end to another, and if I squinted my eyes I could make out a waterfall further down the arena, maybe two days walk to get there. Just beyond the waterfall the place began to be sucked in by a mist, a thick grey mist, one that I'm sure would be difficult to see past once you were in there. That was it; the second arena, and whatever strange things lurked in that mist was sure to be terrifying, that was where the second group of tributes had been released.

Both arena's were big, too big for just twenty four tributes, it was impossible to expect the tributes to run into each other when there was so much space and land between them, keeping us all at a safe distance. There had to be a catch, maybe mutations or floods from the rivers would drive us closer together, or the mist would turn toxic somehow and force us to repel away from it. What ever they were planning, I didn't like it; sure they would give us a day or two to reenergize and get back some rest, but after that god only knew what they would begin to throw our way, doing anything to keep the viewers of Panem glued to their TV screens, calling in to sponsor their favourite tribute.

For these few minutes alone, as I watched the landscape of the arena and listened to the sounds of the jungle, breathing in the earthy air, I felt completely and utterly at easy, I would hold onto this moment for the rest of my time here, remembering what it felt like for these few minutes, and that something as small as this was why I would fight for Mico's life until the end. I decided that my simple strategy would be to keep moving, straying only a few miles away from the river, since it was our main water source, and spend nights high up in the trees where no one could possibly find us, and I doubted that even the Careers were bothered to search every tree in the arena.

The sky turned black, and artificial stars in the sky began to shine brightly, lighting up the arena magically. The Capitol seal was projected into it, and the anthem of trumpets began to play, soon showing a projection of the dead tributes from both blood baths. I counted in my head as I watched each face flash in the sky. Both from Three and Five, and I briefly felt guilty for never trying to learn their names, both tributes from six, and the girls from Seven and Eleven, and the tributes from Twelve.

That left fourteen of us; The Careers, myself and Mico, the axe kid from seven, both from Eight, Nine, Ten and the guy from Eleven. It was actually decent compared to how many usually died at the bloodbath, either the other tributes were strong this year, or they were lucky enough to not cross pass with the Careers at the Cornucopia since they had been split up, deciding to go with the latter I began to climb back down to Mico. Who had began to pull our the small sleeping bag from my backpack, smiling to himself as if he were the happiest kid in the world, and I couldn't help but let a wide smile cross my face as I watched him fondly. Sitting with my back against the stump of the tree, we chatted quite about small things, like how we could start hunting tomorrow, and of the fact we weren't to go within twenty feet within the second arena, and of which tributes were left.

Laying his head on my lap he yawned, his small mouth stretching like that of a new born babies as he did so, and I couldn't help but find it extremely adorable, and warm feeling in my stomach expanding as I thought of all the memories we had shared in District Two. I smiled down at him as my fingers ran through his curls, which were tightly nit together; I always thought that if Mico were a girl I would have had insane trouble trying to brush through his hair.

"Can you tell me the story of King Leonidas and his three hundred men?"

I nodded, looking up to the sky that was mostly blocked from leaves and branches, taking a deep breath and smiling as I thought of the story, which was my personal favourite, because it taught us to stand up to our enemies and what we believed no matter the cost or whether the odds were in our favour. I guess I could relate to it now more than ever, with the circumstances I was in, and how the odds favoured The Careers. Like they did every year.

"Well, I guess I could start with when a Persian messenger was sent to the King of Sparta, Leonidas was told that in exchange for the safety of his people, he must combine forces and join his army with the Persian King …"

Mico smiled sleepily as I went on, not even making it halfway through the story before sleep claimed in, taking him into a deep slumber to rejuvenate his body from the events of the bloodbath, and it wasn't long until the same occurred to me, unintentionally falling asleep, my head lolling back onto the bark of the tree.

I woke with a start, the screams from somewhere not far in the arena were what roused me awake, and they weren't screams of fear that died down quickly, these were screams of excruciating pain, cries for help, screams that made me wonder why they hadn't woken my up sooner, and why they hadn't woken Mico up either. My eyes squinted in the dark, trying to make out if I saw anything from below, and yet all that met me was pitch black darkness, it was damn near impossible to see anything. The screams continued, and it sounded as though they were coming from more than one person, making my blood run cold, and a shiver crawled down my back as another sound met my ears.

I'm not sure what I could describe them as, but they crossed between howls and a growl, and I knew instantly what they were; mutations, meat eating ones at that, and sounded as if they were enjoying their kill slowly. It was nothing that I had heard off before, no bells of remembrance went off in my head, or a feeling of familiarity sparking at the sound, just plain cold fear, because they sounded far beyond you're typical monster nightmare. The screams of whatever tributes had been attacked soon died down a little, and for a brief second I tensed as I felt Mico shuffle in my hold, stirring slightly, and I hoped to god that whoever that was would just be quite.

A horrible thought I know, but Mico would be traumatised as it was after leaving the arena, I didn't need more reasons for him to wake up screaming in the night because of hearing somebody else's, the arena changed you in so many ways that you no longer remembered who you were before. I was determined to keep Mico as close to the old him as possible, simply because he was too unique of a person to change.

The screaming eventually came to a complete stop, as the did the terrifying sounds of the mutations, and I feared to even imagine what they looked liked, prowling in groups at night to hunt for human flesh, it made my skin crawl more than Julian's sneers ever had. I breathed a sigh of relief, thanking whatever god there was that it wasn't me and Mico who had been devoured by mutations, the branches and leaves probably giving us enough shelter to not be noticed, of course that would mean nothing if the mutations had excellent sense of smell, I sincerely hope they didn't.

The faces of the tributes from Ten flashed across the sky, not that is aw much point, the other tributes in the next arena probably hadn't heard the agonizing screams to be awoken, and Mico seemed to have easily slept through it, maybe I was just a light sleeper. As the faces disappeared from the artificial sky, my shoulders relaxed back into the back, trying to get as comfortable as possible, not that there was much point, sleep wouldn't come back to me for the rest of the night, not after hearing those intense screams and growls, I would be lucky to get more than a few minutes of sleep for the rest of my time in the arena, I was too terrified of the nightmares that occasionally occupied me, there were far too many times when I had woken up and burst into tears when my fathers death plagued my mind.

I closed my eyes, trying to think of something that would take my mind off what was scaring me out of my wits, and a blush instantly came over my face as the first thing that popped into my head was the kiss Cato and I shared. How his soft lips felt against mine, how they moved so perfectly yet so fiercely together, how it had awoken such a passionate and uncontrollable emotion within me. As reluctant as I should have been to admit it, I craved that feeling once more or maybe several times more, which is something completely ridiculous, kissing Cato Valentine should not have been on my wish list at this current time, I was fighting for my kid's life.

He probably knew what I was thinking about while watching this, even in complete darkness I'm sure the screens would show how red my face was, I should have slapped myself then, knock me back into my senses. The sounds of the forest had quietened down considerably as the night got later, and the Mockingjay's had retired their melodic singing, leaving only the crickets buzz to echo throughout the Jungle. It was probably why I had picked up on the sound so easily, plus the fact I had excellent hearing, it was a booming sound, the sound of feet pounding against the earth, indicating that someone was running, running in our direction, and by the multiple sounds of that booming there was more than one. I realized what it was a second before the growls and howls had started, as if the creatures were talking among themselves as they, ran, and they were getting close, so close.

My heart beat sped up to a monumental pace, and it honestly felt like they were skipping a beat, my breath caught in my throat, as if the sound of me exhaling would bring them directly to us. I was praying that they would simply run past, go back to whatever nesting grounds they resided in, or to simply move onto hunting in another area, and as usual luck wasn't in my favour. Because they did stop, and by the sounds of it they had stopped directly under our tree, and I didn't dare look below, to catch a glimpse of what they looked like, because it would make me freeze up, and that was something I didn't have the luxury of doing.

They growled fiercely, for a few moments, and the sound of sniffing seemed to be making it's way around the area, I was supposedly right then in my assumption of their sense of smell. My face was kept impassive, emotionless, I knew that the screens would be centred on my reactions right about now, and I couldn't show any fear, if I wanted a chance at sponsors they needed to know that I wasn't to die within the first couple of days, that I was here till the end. My hands went to cover Mico's ears softly, as if it would block out the loud growls and keep him from waking, and hopefully it worked. I was definitely going to climb the tree much higher next time, that way our scent would be completely blocked by the smell of leaves and bark, hopefully some sort of animal too.

I don't know what happened, if they had decided they couldn't smell anything, or if they had given up, or if the game makers had given them something more fun to hunt, but soon enough one final growl was made before the sounds of their bounding feet picked up again, eventually fading out into the distance. It was only until I could completely no longer hear it that I allowed myself to move, but the breath I had been keeping in still didn't budge, like I was almost suffocating myself.

I thought of Cato's words the day before, how he had calmed me with one simple word, and how it had made things feel a lot easier.

Breathe.

And that's what I did, imaging him repeating that word as I took one deep breath at a time, my heart beat slowing down, and my body relaxing back to it's normal posture.

"Breathe." I whispered to myself, although I wish I hadn't because now Cato was probably in a viewing room somewhere grinning smugly at the fact that I had done so, knowing full well that he had been the one to utter those words.

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**Well sooo our first full chapter of THE GAMES! F-YEAH! Oh and don't worry about the mutations, you'll be getting a good description of them VERY soon, I spent a long time thinking this specific species up, I wanted them to be like boogie man scary! Ha! Or maybe Nightmare on Elm St scary :P ANYWAYYYYYY .,.. WOW GUYS 130 REVIEWS? That is OVERWHELMING! I was SO shocked, like YOU GUYS ROCK MANNN!N I'll honestly try to reply to EVERYONE because It's the least I can do **

**Geranium08: So was mine! Although for this one I don't think it was as exciting, this was more of a set-up of the first arena and things. So do I! maybe I'll do a chapter with his POV, although I'm not sure I don't think I'd be very good at writing Cato's POV. THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING SO MUCH! ITS WICKED!**

**Shades-Soul: Yeah! Faith hopefully totally kicks ass in the games, I think she's secretly wanted to for a while! Haha, anyway yeah I do to. Some may consider it unrealistic but I think in those times it would have definitely been something that may have been done, people volunteered for others many times! Mags for Annie is an example!**

**Anon: Thank you so much! I was trying to put as much detail as I possibly could into it! Yay! Glad I managed to do that, and will do! thank you for reviewing!**

**Saiyanprincess711: Thank you! And no problem at all. I am too, it was something small but said a lot at the same time! Thank you for having so much belief in my writing, it honestly means so much to me ^_^ Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that I continue to make you happy with them!**

**C0nt0rt3dM1nd: Haha gotta leave some cliff hangers somewhere right? ;) and thank youuuuuuuuuuu . Hope this cures your thirst for more! Another chapter should be out on Friday!**

**DraggonflyMaiden: Thank you! **

**JustAPersonWithAPony: Haha I totally do that with other stories too! Aha thank you for thinking that! Sometimes the smallest gestures mean the biggest things right? and haha definitely, I'll start looking online for a dress now :P and I love doing replies! They're so much fun for me, it's a way of communicating with my readers!**

**HermoineandMarcus: Thank you, hope this is really awesome to you and that you enjoy the others to come! **

**Nelle07: Thank you! At this point it's just speculation, I think a Cato POV is something I'd need to work on for a few days (because I write these in like a few hours) and I have no idea how to approach a chapter with Cato's POV. I don't wanna ruin the story by making it crappy, so if I do one it'll be to really high standards for you lot **

**SilentxAngel: Please keep on with this epic reviews, because they make me scream with delight and almost cry! You look far beyond anyone else and in between the lines, seeing thing that I wasn't sure anyone else would be able too! YES! I do have an obsession with Greek Mythology, I'm so in love with it, everything about it, and all the films to do with Greeks I've watched over and over again, and although it's not Greek Gladiator is a favourite! Also Prince of Egypt is another favourite of mine, and nice work on figuring out the comparisons and likeliness of the crocodile eating thing, I was watching it not too long ago and the idea of including that somewhere came to mind! As for the whole 'Faith of Troy' thing, it goes a lot deeper than just the story of Helen, I'm hoping that throughout the story it becomes clearer just what I mean with that nickname, and knowing you you'll get it really soon ^_^ Aha the training centre scene was so much fun to write, I was so intending on teasing all the readers AND the characters by writing that, showing just what kind of sexual chemistry they, both being so dominant that they clash constantly! Yes, I didn't want to change her completely in terms of being bullheadedness and things, because that would be unrealistic, I believe that with her flaws they would take extreme time for her to change, and that it would need a sever wake up call and dire consequences as to her realizing she needs too. (hint hint) LOL And with her dress – another flaw in her, she contradicts herself, wanting to pass herself off as not that special in terms of skill and confidence, yet she still doesn't want to be eaten by The Capitol because they think she is. Really? I'm so honoured that Chapter ten touched you in that way, although I am sorry you cried! Yes you would be correct with the story of Athenian and the Minotaur, as Susan Collins said herself that was inspiration; I was like "YOU GO WOMAN! GREEK MYTHOLOGY ROCKS!", hopefully my mutations are as terrifying as the Minotaur! And as for the kiss GO WITH THE SECOND! My intention was that it was a moment of uncontrollable passion, for both of them! He's most likely seriously regretting doing it now, as it has jumbled her train of thought and things! And finally for the twin sai's, HAHA I really did laugh reading the Raphael part! I never thought of it that way, no the sai's went into my comic book hero love, ELEKTRA! Total kick ass woman with twin sai's, and she's so awesome with it that I pictured Faith having the same fighting style! So yes, inspiration for Faith's weapons came from Elektra Thank you sooooo much for your insightful and wonderful review, it honestly does bring tears to my eyes every time I read one, and although you may not review every chapter, your essay worth reviews completely make up for it! Hope to see another later on! Toodles x**

**Angel2u: I'm sorry! Please don't be upset!**

**BiggestPotterHead: I'm sorry again for making you upset! It actually wasn't my intention with this one! And I Mico is just sooooooooooooooo huggable it's unreal! And the next couple of chapters hopefully make up for his absence! THANK YOU! It's just everytime I picture him he actually is SO HOT, so I can't help but convey that into my writing! Haha, and thank you, another update will be here on Friday AND IT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE OUR BABY SISTERS, NO ONE CAN FIND THEM ANNOYING BUT US :P**

**Ravenclaw Slytherin: Thank you! I shall, another update on Friday!**

**CSIGetteBlue: That's completely open to interpretation, but If I can do it I'll do a Cato POV chapter! **

**DeathsInevitableKiss: Trust a GUY to do that hey? Even under these circumstances they still like to make you go crazy! Haha thank you! Hope you like this chapter too!**

**14ismyluckynumber: I shall! And thank you! I hope so for both of those things, and lookout for a new update! :D**

**Cutepenname: Thank you so much, I aim to please haha! And they'll be making all kinds of appearances! :P **

**Sarah: Awwwwww you're so cute! Thank you so much! That was actually adorable ha! Yes, hopefully everything turns out okay and hope you like this chapter! Next one will be out on Friday! :):D **

**Wearethelight: Counting down the days till you're next update … literally! And I know FML! My first exam is literally sooooooo soon, and instead of revising I find myself constantly typing up new chapters! It's so bad, exam time is really gonna be a dry spell for me update wise! And yes Britain ftw! And I'm still trying to work out those, other than sponsor notes god knows how I'll keep things going between them! My mind is soaring with a plot so big that I'll think I'll end up making a story with like a hundred chapters! Ha! Thanks for reviewing! :D xxx **

**Hungergames: Yes it was, but theres more now! :D**

**FreeBirdy93: Awwww welcome to the story then! And thank you so much, I don't know what it is, with my other story I write her from an outside perspective, knowing she's a character, but with this I get completely lost and FORGET she's not real! Haha anyway thank you for reviewing and hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Ferb: Haha, it's only recently been up here? Thank you, we always need a kickass woman sometimes, yess her relationship with Mico is just sooooo adorable! Thank you for reviewing **

**Kaleidoscope-eyes1990: Good plot twist eyy? And yeah I'm hoping he can be quite present, if not I'm sorry but the games are mostly for Faith's character building and to mature!**

**Tori.m: totally doesn't matter, you're still a faithful reader to me darling! Ha, I know it would anger people if I completely took away Katniss, because she is such a monumental character to not only the books but everyone who reads the books! She means so much to me personally as a fan, and I don't wanna take that away from anyone! But I will completely and whole heartedly try to make you and the other readers as happy as possible in terms of character keeping!**

**Onlygirl16: Hey! Thank you, and yes … Forget Me Not will have an update by the end of this week. Sorry for the delay, it's just honestly so much easier to write this than it is my other story. Though I still love them both equally! **

**Wow … twenty nine reviews … this just gets more and more unbelievable people! YOU ALL ROCK! And another update will be here by Friday night, and two on the weekend so look out for them! Enjoy my pretties! :D 3 xxx**


	13. Side

"_There's Always Gonna Be Another Mountain, I'm Always Gonna Wanna Make It Move, It's Always Gonna Be An Uphill Battle, Sometimes I'm Gonna Have To Lose. Ain't About How Fast I Get There, Ain't About What's Waiting On The Other Side … It's The Climb." - Miley Cyrus; The Climb._

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I'd be lying if I had said anything eventful had happened over the next four days, apart from the tributes from Eight and Nine being picked off on different nights, some from the mutations, and the others I guessed were from the Careers. I had yet to actually make contact with any other tributes, not that I wanted to anyway, but they were all keeping to themselves and hiding in the jungle, my initial idea being that only Careers were brave enough to reside in the misty arena, which to me looked like suicide. The mutations were also another form of beings I had yet to see, but their growls that I heard every night, craving and hungry for human flesh were enough to keep me in the trees, and only an absolute idiot would try travelling at night. Mico and I quickly realized that the night belonged to these creatures and these creatures only when they roamed it.

I had practically been going in circles, the same routine with Mico and I everyday, walking, hunting, eating, sleeping in the trees, and with the odd trips to the river to freshen up. I never lingered there too long, it was a main water source for everyone in the arena, and animals too, it may have stretched all the way into the second arena, but I couldn't risk stumbling into someone. A total of sixteen tributes had died within a week, and I was pretty sure that was enough to keep the Capitols thirst for more death at bay for a little while longer, until these two arenas exploded into absolute chaos. I wasn't stupid, I knew that this quite and endearing routine me and Mico had going on would only last so long, and after seeing the way I had fought at the Cornucopia I was pretty sure the game makers were desperate to see more.

When the time came for a huge battle I was praying that Cato would send a sponsor gift of Twin Sai's, that would ensure my victory, it was my best weapon, what I had trained with during the academy, and long after I left it. Working in the factory of where the weapons were made did have its advantages, and the faulty weapons that were thrown out were what I used to continue training myself. Mico worked perfectly fine with his dagger, and used it frequently to throw at the animals we hunted, piercing them right through the skulls. We never hunted anything big but baby bores, or small birds were sufficient enough, it filled our stomachs and it never left too much of a mess after we put our fires out, once again only doing it by day.

"We're really close to the second arena," Mico's nonchalant voice spoke up as we continued walking northing, his jacket off and tied around his waist, the humid heat was becoming too much.

I looked to him beside me as we walked, my jacket still on, the heat killing me as much as it did him, but out of some sort of pride and stubbornness towards The Capitol I kept my jacket on, thankful that my hair was still in it's French braid, a it kept it out of my face.

"And this is how close we're ever gonna get."

"Oh come on! Aren't you the least bit curious?"

"Curiosity killed the cat." I said it in a sing song voice, letting out a quite laugh as Mico scoffed to my response, his brown eyes rolling.

"Yeah, and you're stubbornness and pride completely guarantee's the prolonging of your life."

My jaw dropped in mock horror, gasping a little for good measure, "that was uncalled for Mico Abbeywell."

"I'm sure you're ready to burst into tears."

His monotonous voice had be laughing loudly, his sarcasm was definitely inherited from me, a result of spending the last eight years together, not that I thought it was a bad thing, at the risk of sounding slightly arrogant I liked my sarcasm, I thought it was funny.

Our banter went on for several hours, doing the best we could to lighten the mood in such a dampening and scary situation, ignoring the fact that in a few hours when the sun went down, we would be practically hiding in the trees, praying for the mutations to not decide to give us a happy greeting. You would think that I would be relieved when it started raining heavily, that it would cool mine and Mico's overheated bodies down a little, only it did the opposite, the rain wasn't cool and fresh like it would have been in Two, it was heavy and warm. Adding to the humidity even more, and making it harder to walk and see through the thick brushes of the Jungle, it would be ever so easy to not suspect an ambush over the loud crashing droplets of rain, and the rustling as the plants were coated in it.

Although I could admire how much greener it made the jungle look, adding onto the beauty that it already possessed, even if it was the very place I would die in, at least it was a setting I could admire, something the past tributes probably couldn't say. If it kept raining this heavily and at this fast pace for more than a day, I was sure the river would overflow, this could cause a flood, and instantly a new plan of the game makers had worked itself out in my head. If this was to cause a flood, then their aim was to force us into the trees, and if the flood became a prolonged issue, then we would soon begin to starve, and water could only get you so far until your body begins to deteriorate due to lack of food.

I sighed, now irritated, spitting out the water than had flown into my mouth as I did so, something that I would probably be doing for the next few hours. This game was already extremely difficult, but I underestimated how cold and ruthless the game makers could be on us, instead concentrating more on what the Careers would do if we ran into them. A shiver of absolute fear tingled from my spine down to my toes, the hairs on the back of my neck standing, if the ground was out of the question as a form of travel for the next few days, then we wouldn't be the only ones who would descend the trees as a means of travelling. Those disgustingly hungry and ever prowling mutations would still be out hunting, and I was more than positive that they were designed by the game makers to be able to climb trees as well as run fast, they had just been toying with us for the past week.

I pulled my hood up, not that it helped much in keeping me dry, the water easily soaked through it and still wet my hair, and with a bit of nagging I convinced Mico to eventually pull his coat back on too. I knew we couldn't walk in this for much longer, we would have to retire in the trees soon, and without catching one last bird for dinner, luckily Mico had picked a few safe berries earlier, and that I have saved some of the meat from this morning in a plastic container.

The backpack weighed heavily on my shoulders, not because he carried a lot, but because I was becoming tired, I had no problem with sleeping right now, even if the rain was ridiculous. I gave Mico a lift up in a nearby tree, not as tall as I would have liked, but was well connected with other trees if we needed to make a quick getaway, I passed him the back pack as he shrugged it on his shoulders, climbing a fair high amount into the trees, and I nodded once at him through the rain as I quickly did a perimeter check around the area.

It was another habit I had grown, checking the area for any other tributes or wild animals, I had come across a rather feisty cat at one point, its height reaching up to my thighs, and a large set of growling teeth; it made a goon dinner than night. I silently asked my self why I was okay with killing animals, while I flat out still effused and hated to do the same with humans, there was no difference after all, I killed an animal in order to survive and eat it, while I would soon kill a human in order to preserve Mico and my life's. It was a question even I couldn't answer, because I simply had no excuse or response to it, in the slightest way I was just like the rest of them, and in another I was a hypocrite.

Being so wrapped up in my own thoughts and accusing questions to myself, I didn't hear the heavy footsteps that came from behind me as I continued to walk in a slight circle around the area, and the fact that the still pouring heavy rain was making too much sound didn't help either. A large hand grabbed my shoulder, jerking me back slightly, and immediately I used my basic instincts, my years of training also coming to my like second nature, I managed to stay on my feet, and used both my hands to grab the wrist on my shoulder and flip them over, a tall scrawny figure tumbling to the floor. Pulling my sword out of my belt, watching the tribute pull himself to his feet, and grabbing the axe out of his own belt I readied myself.

Before he could even raise it I kicked it out of his wrist, hearing a small groan release from him in pain, and grabbed his neck to force him into the stump of a tree, my sword pushing itself into his neck.

"Wait! Wait, stop! I don't wanna fight!"

I hesitated slightly, my eyes narrowing in suspicion, the fearful dark brown eyes of the District Seven tribute staring at me, his eyes looking terrified. The force of the sword against his neck loosened just a little bit, but I kept it there all the same, for all I knew this could have been some sort of trick, and in games like this I almost expected it from him. His mop of dark brown hair was stuck to his face from the rain, no longer wearing the green combat jacket we were given, and his black t-shirt stuck to his scrawny body, he was no older than fifteen, maybe sixteen if I was generous.

"What do you want?" My voice was cold and low, giving off an emotionless look, Cato must be _so _proud of me right now.

"An alliance! I swear, I didn't mean to scare you, or bring out my axe, it was just self defence."

"I don't do alliances."

"No, please. I can help you; I know how to use an axe!"

He sounded desperate, too desperate for someone who was acting, and by his young age and fearful eyes I couldn't help but sympathise with him, the kid just wanted to live as much as the rest of us. But I couldn't ally with him, not when I knew eventually that I'd have to kill him, Mico had to win, for himself and for me, and no one was gonna stop that. I removed the sword from his neck, and for one moment he heaved a sigh of relieve, before I grabbed him by his shirt collar and shoved him in the other direction of where my tree was.

"Get out of here."

He looked taken aback from a moment, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, trying to find words to say or protest with, the rain spraying down heavily on us as he continued to look for a good argument. My cold gaze dropped from his, turning to walk away from him, leaving his axe where it had fallen, I wouldn't want to leave him defenceless if he ever got attacked, I wasn't a cold hearted Career.

"I heard the Careers! I heard them talking about you!"

He had to shout louder than normal in order to be heard over the rain, and what I heard was very clear, clear enough to stop me in my tracks, showing that he had my attention, but that I wouldn't turn around to give him all of it, and as he realized this his next words came out rushed, sounding more desperate than before.

"They're after you … the Careers from One especially. I was hiding in a tree a couple of days ago while they were on their way to the second arena. You pissed 'em off pretty badly, and I know if we stick together we have a better chance of surviving."

Okay, so he may have been right, but I wasn't about to openly admit it, it would be easier to have him around, but then it could be a complete trick and I could be walking right into his hands. It was hard to tell, especially in a game as vital and dangerous as this, apart from me everyone was out for themselves, nobody truly wanted an alliance, and they just wanted an easier way to survive, a way to prolong their survival.

Alliance's were dangerous, they could turn sour at any time, especially if you were ever in the last two together, I remember the year Enobaria had won, she was in the final two with a District One tribute, who was a guy, from up until then they actually seemed to get on rather well, and they worked fantastically together when in fights, but when they realised the inevitable couldn't be held off any longer she had dived in and gone for him like he was just another animal to hunt for. We all behaved like animals in this game, it was disturbing to watch, yet only now was I beginning to understand how necessary it was, how you had no choice if you wanted to go home to your family. Only I had no family to go home to, my family was here in this arena with me, and if I wanted my family to grow and have his own, then others had to die. It was as simple as that, I felt slightly ashamed of myself, for condemning other Victor's so easily, for finding them nothing but pathetic excuses for humans, for being so harsh on Cato, although he really couldn't blame me, since from start to finish with his games he had treated his victory like some sort of gold medal to win.

But yet, it all turned out the same, everyone had something to go back to, something to lose other than their lives, and I had to ask myself why I ever thought I could condemn these people. It wasn't even their faults; they were thrown into this unwillingly, disrupted from their quite peaceful lives just to put on a good show for The Capitol, and for President Snow to indirectly give the finger to every single lower District who was watching. A taunt, a warning, showing just how far he would go to keep in power, how corrupted and twisted his mine was to go through with this every year, for seventy five years, and not feel the slightest bit sick with himself, although I'm sure he got over pretty well if it had been going on for that long.

We weren't toys or machinery, we couldn't be remade, and our race was already small as it was, we were short in numbers, and no one could deny that. If something like this went on any longer then I wouldn't be surprised if our species soon went extinct, only Snow was so narrow minded and self absorbed in his mansion to realize that. He was playing God, and that was a very dangerous move to make, you can't chose who lives or dies, you can't control how people live their lives, it was another human beings right to do so.

There was something about President Snow, something so deep and dark inside him, something that definitely wasn't human, and it didn't make me angry or disgusting, it made me scared. When I was five and used to thing monsters hid under my bed, there was nothing that I thought that could terrify me more than that, but I was wrong, because Snow was that monster under my bed. Always lurking and watchful, pushing down on you at your weakest times, surprising you and taking an advantage out of it, he was the only monster of his kind, the only monster I would ever fear. I had no doubt in my mind that God had existed before this, I didn't necessarily have a specific religion, but I did believe in a higher power, and I was more than sure that he existed now; because Snow was the devil.

The way I was seeing it I now had two options, one being to keep on walking away from Seven, ignoring his presence for the rest of the games until it was necessary to kill him, or when someone else did. Or I could ally myself and Mico with him, have an extra skilled person if I ever had to go against the Careers, or even the mutations, but then it would create attachments and would become harder to sever them when the time came. If I allied with him though I could never feel trust him, I probably wouldn't even get much sleep because I would be watching him, it was too risky, if I was on my own in this then maybe it would have been an easier decision, but I wasn't on my own, I had Mico to look out for.

I had to ask myself what Cato would have done, whether he would have accepted the alliance, or gone off and carried on the way he had been. I came up with nothing, absolutely nothing, and I should have prepared myself by asking him this before hand, maybe if I had been less stubborn to his mentoring I would have the answer, and I was feeling the backlash of my actions now. He may have told me to ally up with someone like Seven, but the only reason I could imagine him giving was the fact that Seven was good with axe's, he was a hindrance and knew how to fight at least, but then he could have said that it was too risky, that I didn't know anything about him, and for all I knew Cato could have probably been screaming at the screen for me to walk away.

Just keep on walking Faith, ignore what he said and keep on walking. I should have done it; it wasn't as if it was a hard task. I could have easily walked away, but I didn't, instead I turned around to look at him, to see the still pleading and desperate look on his face. I felt a pang of guilt, he was still just a kid, younger than me, and all he wanted was a chance. I felt as if I were the one taking away his innocence, not The Capitol, and it was completely ridiculous of me to feel that way over such a thing as refusing an alliance, it wasn't like I was choosing to kill him instead.

I let out a frustrated groan, which was most likely muted by the sound of the rain; I narrowed my eyes at the boy, "Come on Seven."

Waving my hand to motion him over, and the shocked face of his would have been priceless in other circumstances, he scrambled to make his way over to me, picking up his axe as he went, and I continued walking, not slowing down my pace for him, causing him to speed walk with me.

"It's uhh- it's Patroclus … my names Patroclus."

"Like from the Greek myth." It wasn't a question, nor was I really addressing him, I was sort of talking loudly to myself, as if confirming my own information; he still took it as an indication to reply.

"Yeah, my mum loves that stuff." He laughed nervously, and I spared him one look out of the corner of my eye before returning my gaze ahead of me. Oh, the irony, the absolute irony of this all, I got myself stuck with a tribute good at axe's, who also happened to have to same interests as me, it was as if God was trying to make me form some sort of bond with the boy who was going to die in a matter of weeks, this couldn't get any more clichéd that it already was. I actually had to force myself from face palming, wouldn't want to let the game makers know this had already gotten to me before our alliance had ever started.

"Faith."

"I know who you are..." I once again looked to him out of the corner of my eye, seeing that he was staring with his eyes slightly wide, as if I were some sort of art exhibit, I didn't understand why he was even looking at me that way, like I was some sort of hero, or saviour, I hadn't done nothing for this boy.

"You're Faith of Troy."

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**I don't really know what to say, except continuously thank you all for the amount of reviews you give, I honestly couldn't ask for more dedicated and lovely readers, you're all so wonderful, and I thank you dearly for that!**

**REPLIES: **

**NikkiXCORE: Haha, I must admit to doing that a few times my self when I had seen chapter uploads! Lucky for me that I eventually got a laptop and stopped doing that! And awwwww thank you so much for thinking so! It's so lovely of you Hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**Scarstellstories: Thank you so much! And they should be making a full on appearance soon, description of what they look like and everything! I'm such a spoiler person ¬_¬ SORRY! And hope you like this chapter! What I'll do is try it out, and if I'm happy with it I'll upload it, if not then it'll probably be deleted, but thank you for having faith in me!**

**Dr Moustachio Girl: Haha, if you were bricking it for just that, then I can't wait to find out your reaction for the real juicy stuff! And dw I completely agree, even Julian wouldn't kill as brutally as the mutts do! And thank you, hope I continue to do good descriptions of them :P**

**Angel2u: Okay, I'm glad Hope you liked this chapter my darling! X**

**Wearethelight: Snap to the Alevels, in my last year too, and it's actually physical and mental torture, cannot wait to be finished in June! Andddddd, I saw your update on your story, while I was writing mine, as soon as I finish uploading this I'm RUSHING to go read it, I'm actually dying to right now haha! Thanks for the review darling :D xx**

**Geranium08: Thank you so much, it really does mean so much for you to love it and to have that much faith in my writing! (Haha notice the unintentional pun there? :P) Lool, anyway yes I will try, but I can't garuntee anything because I do find it difficult, thanks for your words of encouragement though! X**

**Saiyanprincess711: Thank you! Ha I'm no where near as brave as Faith, I probably would have burst out crying if it were me! I wouldn't last five minutes in the games! And that's awesome, I'm pretty sure you spelt it right! And thank you for the love of my description, I Love that you love it, if that makes sense? Lol, I hope you liked this chapter too love **

**14ismyluckynumber: Ha! I'm happy that I keep you on the edge of your seat every time you read a chapter, it's my intention to keep you all guessing in these ;) You're enthusiasm on the love for my story is wonderful, thank you for that xx**

**IAmSweetInnocence: Thank you! If it comes out well then I will post it, but I'll try my hardest to do one you all like! Thank you for reviewing again **

**Biggestpotterhead: Even in the games she still has time to be a little girly! I think since Cato's not in there atm you all still need to at least feel his influence on her, if I had to reach chapters without Cato it would kill me! I will try as hard as I can though with a Cato POV chapter, or it might just be a little snippet in one chapter, like a page long or something. And thank you, hope your sister likes the story too! Have a wonderful read! **

**Justapersonwithapony: I totally do that too! And I hope you did it again when seeing this update! Haha! Mico is just so adorable I wanna give him tons of cuddles! And haha knowing Cato he probably was! I can picture it! **

**HermoineandMarcus: Thank you! I'll be updating again tomorrow night and Sunday so you won't need to wait long!**

**C0t0rt3dm1nd: Haha, all in due time my darling! She doesn't have Sai's atm to use, but when she does .. let's just say the wait will be worth it ;) Hopefully I can do a Cato POV part, if it works then I'll upload it! Thanks again for reviewing: D xx**

**Dra9onf7yz: Thank you! Trust me they're FAR from the mutations from the original canon; I wanted to make these A LOT more sinister! **

**RavenclawSlytherin: Thanks so much! And another update tomorrow my lovely x**

**Nelle07: Thanks darling, hope you liked this chapter too! xx**

**That-girl-monica: Thank you so much sweetheart, and another chapter will be up tomorrow night, probably a late one lol because I have a habit of doing that! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Onlygirl16: Heya! Thank you so much, and hope you like the rest of the story as it goes on :D **

**Silentxangel: You never cease to amaze me with your reviews, honestly I love them so much! Keep going because they make me so unbelievably happy, especially because you're so insightful of the deeper meaning! Haha I know, she definitely wont have time to analyze every detail of a fight when it comes to the next few chapters, it's going to become a real rollercoaster! She really is going to go through a hard time in the arena learning that in order to survive and win, you lose all morals and humanity, it's not necessary nice but it's the way it goes! Thank you so much! And really? Avatar? I wont lie when I say this but when I was describing the Jungle I was completely thinking of the Jurassic Park movie settings, that was my inspiration, but now that you have mention it Avatar is also largely similar to it! Ha thanks, it took me quite a while to think up an acceptable plot in terms of changing the 74th and 75th hunger games, it had to be well thought out and decent, otherwise I would have angered people by changing it craply! I think the moments with her and Mico are vital in the chapters, just to remind herself and the readers of what she's fighting for. Thank you so much for thinking that of my story, honestly it actually means the world! You always do so much for me by writing all these chapter worth reviews and give me a hell of a lot of advice while praising me, and it motivates me loads! And you make notes? Wow, you're on a whole nother level of awesomeness man, to know you go that much into reviewing makes me feel honoured that you review at all! So thank you for that, and hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as the others! Btw yes I do like rap, actually I have a strange taste in music, because I like everything, I'll mix between a bit of Rihanna, Evanescence, The Wanted and Bruno Mars or something, Heck I even have an obsession with Eminem and Nicki Minaj, rap rocks! And I haven't heard it yet, But I like B.O.B So I shall check it out as soon as I can!**

**So I wont bore all you readers any longer, just that I hope you liked this chapter, and that the next one is out tomorrow! Enjoy my pretties! :D xx **


	14. Fade

"_I Could Use A Dream, Or A Genie, Or A Wish, To Go Back To A Place Much Simpler Than This. 'Cause After All The Partying And Smashing And Crashing, And All The Glitz And The Glam And The Fashion ... There Comes A Time When You Fade To The Blackness." – B.O.B Ft. Haley Williams; Airplanes._

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The rain hadn't stopped. Not even for a few minutes, there were times when it became slightly lighter, and didn't weigh as heavily as it could be, but it never fully ceased. Hunting was almost pointless now, when I actually tried the water came up to my ancles, I never caught anything big enough for three people, if went on like this any longer we might just starve, and I wasn't bringing Mico out in this to pick berries. The kid was already catching a cold, if he exposed himself anymore to this dreadful weather he could be unlucky enough to get a fever, and god knows that was something I didn't need.

The rain had been going on for two days, and in that time me and Patroclus had barely spoken, Mico being the too nice of a kid he was tried to engage him as much as he could in conversation, but the kid remained quite. He stared a lot, and it annoyed me, he had no shame in watching us, or I for that matter, his gaze would only avert for a couple of minutes if I glared at him.

My hair was ridiculously tangled now, I probably wouldn't even be able to get it out of the braid even if I tried, and it was constantly wet. The game makers good for nothing outfits that were given to us did nothing, the boots were the only thing that seemed to stay resistant in letting water seep in, and I think my feet were the only part of my body that wasn't soaked at this point. My top clung to my skinny frame as I sat in the tree, watching as Mico slept soundly in the waterproof sleeping bag, only his hair ducking out of the top, glistening slightly with small raindrops.

Dawn was approaching, meaning we would have to get moving again soon, sighing from the ache in my shoulders I rolled them a couple of times, sleeping against the stump of a tree definitely wasn't good for my spinal column.

I would have woken Patroclus up, if he hadn't already been wide awake and staring into space, seeming to not sleep much him self, I was actually beginning to think he wasn't all there in the head. Hell, the boy talked to himself when he thought I was asleep, about the most insignificant things ever, maybe it was his own way of trying to stay sane in an environment such as this, and to be honest I wasn't anyone special to judge. I nudged his side with my foot, snapping him to attention, and I motioned with my head for him to get ready to leave.

"We're moving."

He nodded and stood, balancing on the tree branch to stretch him self, while I scooted over to Mico to shake him awake softly. He stirred a few times, head still buried inside the sleeping bag, letting out a quite whimper, protesting to stay asleep.

"We gotta get up Soldier, time to move."

Still he said nothing, and continued to sleep on, it was only then that I realized he was shivering slightly, and on closer inspection when I pulled the sleeping bag down a little I saw the cold sweat covering his forehead, it continued on around his neck too, and when I pulled the sleeping bag completely open his entire torso was drenched in it. I panicked, my mind going into overdrive, and lifted his shoulders up to partly rest him in my arms, shaking him a little harder in order for him to wake up, his skin burning as if it were on fire.

"Patroclus, get me the water canteen … now!"

I heard a rustle as he scrambled for my backpack, appearing by my side seconds later with a black canteen; pulling of the lid I tilted Mico's head up slightly, forcing him to take sips of water.

"Mico, can you hear me? I need you to wake up kiddo, wake up!"

His breathing was rapid, and his eyes dropped open slightly, but only for a few seconds as he spoke, my heart rate sped up twice as fast as when I first heard the mutations.

"My body hurts Faith .."

He fell back into unconsciousness, and I forced myself to blink away the ears that threatened to spill. Not here and not like this, they wouldn't get me yet, and they sure as hell weren't having him.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's got a fever."

Of all the god forsaken things these assholes wanted to do, and they made it rain, they're still making it rain, and I knew they were enjoying this; every single second of my panic was being revelled in like some soap opera.

"Its okay, a sponsor will send something."

For once I appreciated Patroclus's input, because he was attempting to sooth me, calm me down, and it helped in making me think clearly. I pushed passed the worry and irrationality of my brain, thinking of how long a sponsor would take to come, that was even if someone was willing to sponsor us, we hadn't in any way really showed them why they should.

"That'll take too long."

"What else can we do?"

Medicine. He needed medicine, and an effective one, his burning hot temperature was definitely not going away anytime soon, I had learned a long time ago of just how weak Mico's immune system was, he caught chest infections and fevers all the time, I almost went broke just in order to pay for the right medical treatment. He would die if I didn't get him any now.

My mind went to the Cornucopia, and how that would have been filled with all types of medicines that handled injuries and illnesses just like this. But then if Patroclus had seen the Career's from one, who I recently learned that their names were Wiley and Caville, would have stripped the entire Cornucopia of all its useful contents, medicine and food sources would be gone, as well as the weapons that would have been useful to them. So our Cornucopia was out of the question.

"Patroclus, when you enter the second arena, how far would you be from the Cornucopia there?"

I looked at Patroclus straight in the eye, watching his confused face as he scrambled for an answer.

"No-not far, it's about an hours walk, a little less if you run, there's loads of metal bridges and things because its one large Canyon, the bridge with the Cornucopia is the biggest and in the middle."

I nodded, placing Mico softly back down and pulling the sleeping back up to his shoulders, I kissed him on top of the head before I turned and zipped up the backpack, leaving the water canteen beside him. I threw it over my shoulders, tightening it to make sure it was held secure, before placing the sword in my belt and standing, pulling the hood over my head.

"You're not thinking of what I think you're doing are you?"

"If I run there and back I can return before sun down."

I walked to the stump of the tree, beginning to climb down, Patroclus quickly following me as if he could change my decision.

"You don't get it, that place there is crawling with mutations, they're huge, they're like giant insects! That's how most of tributes died, that's why nobody made it to the Cornucopia, 'cause it was in the middle of all that chaos!"

"It's a risk I'll have to take."

He stood next to the tree as he watched me walk away, only stopping one more time to look at him dead in the eye.

"If anything happens to him, I'm coming after you."

He didn't say anything, not that I gave him a chance to, and I waited till I was a good way away before I started running, setting a fair pace for myself, knowing what direction to already go in, my sword ready at the belt if I needed to pull it out, and my boots splashing in puddles. My hands pushing at the stray branches that came in my way, and the ever heavy rain beating down upon me, but I didn't stop for one second, I had to make it, and I needed to make it.

You could probably call this cross country running, because I had ceased my sprinting hours ago, resulting to mere jogging, it was then I realized the rain had stopped, but hadn't yet dried the place, the earth was still muddy and damn, and wouldn't probably dry until tomorrow, since the trees barely allowed any sunlight through as it was. But it had stopped, which was more than enough for me, at least if I made it back with a medical kit, the rain couldn't cause Mico another illness.

When the burning in my calf's eventually turned numb, that was when I heard the sound of it, the sound of water crashing against rock, and lots of it; the waterfall, the entrance to the second arena, I turned my direction and headed towards the actual waterfall, figuring that there would be to correct place to enter.

Confirming my thoughts and of what I had seen from the second arena while climbing trees, a thick mist did cover the arena, only partially allowing me to see the drop down canyon from where I stood. When walking over to the edge, and looking down I could see that Patroclus's words were correct, there were a series of bridges, all made of metal and connecting one side of the canyon to the others, going from higher to lower levels and stretching far, it looked almost like a maze, and who knows how many more there were if you continued further into the arena. The Careers must stick to one place, because it must have been more than easy to get lost in this arena, I actually felt sorry for the tributes that were released here, their fate already seemed decided for them as soon they were raised into this place.

First I had to figure out how I would make it to one of these bridges, they weren't far, and one was simply right below me, beginning right next to the water, it was the getting down there that I had to worry about. Maybe if you built up enough momentum and speed you could jump, but my legs were too burned out for that, I needed to take a while to recover from the long run I had done, while getting the supplies I needed, in order to run back before the sunset.

So I climbed down, the rocks were large and stable enough for me to grip onto, only I wasn't very graceful, the bridge below was maybe ten or fifteen feet away from me, and if I fell from here I could imagine that it would be painful. There were times when my foot slipped, guessing wrong on where it should have went, and when I was about half way there the grip I had with my hands faltered for the slightest moment, and that moment was that was needed in my to go barrelling down to the ground, and landing on the metal from my back.

I bit down on my lip hard in order to stop myself from yelling out in pain, I had no idea where the Careers were here, they could have been watching me for all I knew, and the sound of the metal clanging when I had fallen on it echoed loudly throughout the second arena, and the loud crashes of the waterfall seeming to drown it out.

I rolled over onto my hands and knee's, sucking in a breath as I pushed myself up, standing and placing both hands on my back and bending backwards, which was definitely going to bruise. I looked around, wondering how you were supposed to even get onto the other bridges, and where they even led if it wasn't across to the other side. My hand went to the handle of my sword, gripping it tightly, my mind on alert as I treaded into unknown territory, walking as quietly as I could without making noise, my boots were heavy and making too much sound.

It was way too quite here, it felt as if nothing was alive the further I went, and I found myself missing the some what safe haven of the jungle, which was like a paradise compared to this, it was even cold. How the game makers managed to pull something like this off was beyond me, they really did go all out for the Quarter Quells, which was understandable seeing as they only happened every twenty or so years, like the normal hunger games wasn't exciting enough.

The mist always looked thick from afar, but when walking through it, it was actually surprisingly decent, I could still manage to see things, albeit it wasn't to what I would have liked, but at least I wasn't completely blind. I walked down this one simple bridge for some time, coming across nothing but more metal bridges and more mist, this could definitely go on for forever, confusing tributes and even getting lost in them.

It was fairly easy to spot the Cornucopia, mostly because this one was like a cylinder, and because it was a pure black colour, standing right in the middle of the two canyons, sitting on a wide bridge, a bridge that just so happened to be connected to mine. I would have said that the odds were in my favour, because of how simple it all was, but of course the Hunger Games were never made to be easy, and that's why I realized that everything in that Cornucopia hadn't been touched, because of the large and wide spider webs that surrounded, as if it were a fortress to be guarded at all times.

This was no average sized web for an average sized spider, these were unnaturally big, and I suddenly completely understood what Patroclus had meant by the insects, they were mutations. These spiders were meant to be big, and really big, I had no doubt that they were an ultimate killing machine, probably even rivalling the ones in the jungle. Only there were no spiders, just empty webs, it's as if they were hiding, ready to attack if anyone dared try getting past the webs to reach the Cornucopia.

I knew that I just simply couldn't walk through the webs, breaking them and just pick up a med pack, I had to be smart about this, I had to work my warm around it. I turned a corner onto the large bridge, walking closer to the webs but keeping a safe distance, and I saw just how complicated this could possibly be, because they all overlapped each other, going in a complete round circle of the Cornucopia.

Now I was really thankful of concentrating on the ropes in the training room, getting my upper body strength prepared for something like this, and tightening the straps of the backpack I walked to the edge of the bridge, swinging my legs off of it, and slowly lowering myself as I hung by my hands. The webs were centred around the Cornucopia securely, but the tiny loophole of it all was that the edges of the bridge inside the webs cage was completely free to climb through, and if I could hold on long enough I could make it.

The worst thing that could possibly happen if I let go was that I would fall further down onto the next bridge, and probably break something, but it was better than getting eaten, or having the blood sucked out of you by spiders.

It took a while, and definitely hurt my arms, I had to move softly, but as swiftly as I could, because if I was hanging of here for any longer I would definitely fall, and if I was careless with where my hands went then I could just end up being a spiders main dish for the night. As soon as I had made my way closer to the Cornucopia I thrust my legs over faster than I had ever done before, pulling myself up as quickly as I could and lying on the cold metal for a few seconds, letting the muscles in my arms relax a little before pushing myself to my feet and tiptoeing around various things that were scattered around the Cornucopia.

The Careers themselves probably hadn't tried hard enough to get around the webs, since Wiley and her brother had probably brought most of the supplies from their Cornucopia too, it would have taken quite a few trips to do so though. My eyes scanned the many packs, seeing many plain black packs with a white cross on top, and quickly sifting through them I found only bandages and healing cream from open wounds, this was going to be a lot more difficult than I thought. Just in case of an emergency I did put one of those medical packs in my bag, along with a bag of small carrots, both not heavy enough to slow me down on the way back.

I was getting anxious, feeling as I had spent way too much time here, all I needed was a medical kit to treat bacterial illnesses; it wasn't that hard of a task. I'd found it of course, next to a very tempting weapon, not as tempting as Twin Sai's, but tempting enough to make me stop and look at it for a second. With the medical kit in one hand, containing the medicines I needed, I picked up the samurai sword with the other.

They were very rare to come across, as it was originally a weapon that had originated and been crafted from over seas, a country that was once very popular in culture almost century ago. I could never remember the name of the country, which I really should have, seeing as they had such beautiful weaponry. Shoving the medical kit into my back pack, and putting it back onto my shoulders; I stood and unsheathed the sword. Beautiful silver, the hilt pure black, everything about it was just so wonderfully done, probably costing so much to make.

"So I see you figured out how to get through the webs, not as dumb as you look then."

My head whipped around the Cornucopia, seeing a tall dark figure emerge from the shadows of it, a sickening and sadistic grin on Caville's face, with a large black flair hanging from his hands, grazing the floor teasingly.

My green eyes glared at him fiercely, and my grip on the sword tightened, ready for an attack. He looked tired, worn out, his blonde hair messy and dishevelled, as if he had spent days here, guarding the Cornucopia, he too no longer hand his jacket, and his inhuman bulking chest barely fit into the black shirt he was assigned.

"We knew you'd come. Julian said it was only a matter of time until you needed supplies, you've walked right into our hands."

That was a feminine voice for sure, and my suspicions were quickly confirmed as Sunny emerge from the Cornucopia herself, dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, and ever present sneer on her face.

"I suppose you're looking for a medal of achievement."

I swear I had no filter; it was as if my mind programmed itself to piss off my enemies more than I already did. As soon as the words had left my mouth I snapped it back shut, wishing I hadn't even opened it, as it seemed to do nothing but anger Caville and make Sunny growl like some sort of animal.

"Don't play that sarcastic shit with us Two! You've had this comin' since you stuck my sister!"

I ignored Caville's words, taking a step backwards as I thought of my situation; I could do this. I could beat them both, it wasn't going to be easy, but if I played my cards right I'm sure I could kill them both, even if it was two against one. Sunny pulled out two large daggers that looked as if they rested in a belt on her back, holding them stiffly as she readied herself, while Caville tensed his shoulders, readying him self for the swings and lunges he would throw towards me with his flail.

The samurai sword I held was in my left hand, and I pulled out my other with the right, holding one above my head as I crouched slightly, waiting and daring for one of them to back the first move.

It was Sunny, who always looked like she had low patience from the first time I saw her, and came barrelling towards me with both daggers in front of her, one came crashing into my smaller sword, and I quickly pushed her back, ducking in time to her other dagger as it swung to hit my neck. I didn't have time to properly think out a strategy, my mind was half focused on blocking Sunny, while the other part was keeping a look out for Caville, who was not far away, swinging his flair in the air to try and catch an opening for him to take a swing at me.

I swung the samurai sword towards Sunny, catching her cheek and slicing it deeply, and she staggered backwards yelling out in anger and pain. I didn't have time to go for a final blow on her though, because out of the corner of my eye I saw the spiked flair come flying towards my head, and I swung quickly to knock it away with my smaller sword, the flair's chain wrapping around it tightly. Seeing the advantage Caville pulled on the chain hard, the sword flying out of my hand and being thrust away and off the bridge, plunging down deeper into the canyon.

I screamed out in pain, feeling Sunny's large dagger being plunged into the back of my shoulder, a flashback of what I had done to Wiley coming through my mind. She grabbed onto the back of my neck, growling as she pushed it deeper into my shoulder, and I had to grit my teeth in order to stop myself from crying.

The sinister laugh of Caville echoed around us, and I saw him begin to swing his flair once more as he readied to hit me with it square in the chest. Ignoring the pain in my shoulder I raised my free arm to slightly turn and elbow Sunny in the face, her grip on my neck loosening enough for me to break free, ducking just as the flair flew in our direction, hitting Sunny square in the face and making a sickening crunching sound as it connected with her nose.

I pushed Sunny further back, swinging the samurai sword and slashing her throat, and the free moment I had as she tried to decipher what just happened I plunged it into her chest, hearing the gurgling of her throat as blood made its way up to her mouth. She was done for.

Caville's flair came barrelling into the same spot on my shoulder as where I had been stabbed, making me stumble and fall to my knee's besides Sunny's slowly dying body, and I had to support myself with my hands to stop from completely falling to the ground. Hearing his fast approaching heavy footsteps I pushed myself back up, making a break for the web, I didn't think it mattered at this point if spiders came running for us now, I knew I could run fast enough and make it back to the entrance of the other arena, the adrenaline rush I was feeling would help with that too.

Just as I made it to the web I felt the force of Caville's large body crash into mine, sending us tumbling to the floor, and crashing into the strangely thick string of the web, surprising me a little even in the circumstances, they were usually a lot thinner and easier to break. Caville rolled off me as we fell, a little away from me and landing on his back, picking up the samurai sword I was on my feet again, only stopping momentarily as I heard screeching, screeching of a creature I was slowly beginning to fear, and by the sounds of it more than one was coming.

I was running out of time, it was well into the afternoon and I had spiders on my ass, I needed to kill Caville and get the hell out of here.

He came charging at me with his bare hands, almost a death wish, and I went to swing my sword at his head, only I didn't anticipate how fast his reaction time could be. He easily ducked and missed it, crashing into me and lifting me off the ground momentarily as we once again fell back to the floor, this time he remained on top of me, the sword sliding out of my grasp.

His hands gripped onto my neck quickly, and soon began to choke me, I struggled for breath as his grip slowly tightened, almost torturing me, not even caring that the screeching of the spiders was getting closer and closer. I clawed at his face and hands, scratching them both, and yet it didn't seem to bother him. My eyes felt as if they were popping out of their sockets, and I my throat felt as if it were getting smaller and smaller as he choked me.

My head lolled a little to the side, looking desperate for something to try and attack him with, black spots invading my vision as I began to suffocate. There, not far beside me was one of Sunny's daggers, her dead body not far from mine, only faintly hearing the canon goes off. The other Careers would have heard it; they would be making their way over soon, my fingers stretched as they reached for the dagger, successfully grabbing it and plunging it into the side of his neck, successfully making him scream in agony and let go.

He fell to the side and away from me as he held his neck, continuously yelling profanities at me as he shook, and I lay there for a few seconds, taking large and gulping breaths of air, suddenly I had never felt more thankful than I head now about being given oxygen.

"Sunny! Caville!"

That was Julian's voice, he definitely wasn't far now, it was just what I needed to snap me out of my daze and get me to roll over, plus the view now of possibly one of the biggest spiders I had ever seen slowly crawl it's way down the web opposite me. I pushed myself up onto my legs, hearing the yell of fear from Caville as he too noticed the spider, attempting to get on his knees to run; only I had other plans in store for him.

I walked over to him, looking down at him briefly before I raised the dagger in both my hands, seeing his fearful eyes as he watched me plunge it down into his arm, with strength that I had never dared use before, not knowing the full extent of it. The dagger went right through is arm, and embedded itself deeply into the metal bridge beneath us, securing and trapping Caville right where he was.

The spider had descended from the web now, and others soon began to follow it from the opposite end of the bridge, beside the Cornucopia. I had never seen anything like it, one of its large hairy legs was bigger than my entire frame, and the several eyes it held bore into mine like they could see right through me, sending a shiver down my spine. I turned, not wanting to stay a minute longer and picking up the sword, having done my job and taking off at a speed I had never tried before, and ignored the pain in my shoulder as best as I could, knowing that the blood was soaking through my jacket.

I heard the screams of complete and utter fear from Caville, followed by ones of excruciating pain as the most likely picked at his flesh, and I squeezed my eyes shit for a brief moment, wanting to ignore and pretend what I had just done didn't happen. I didn't have much time to do so however, as that same screeching sound from before sounded very close to me, and looking back for a brief second I saw that one of those insects had followed me, not as big as the others had been, but a threat none the less, and as it picked up its pace on it's eight brown legs so did I, determined to make it out of this arena alive.

* * *

**I think I could say that stuff gets pretty heated from now on, especially since two of the Career's and Julian's comrades have been picked off by the girl he despises, ha so yeah … it wont bore you as much now :D Last chapter was sort of like a filler, building up to this and the next two or three chapters, so sorry if you didn't like the last one!**

**REPLIES:**

**HermonieandMarcus: Thank you! Hope you enjoy this one too and that you like the others that will be coming out soon! :D **

**Dra9onf7yz: Yes again haha! All in good time darling aha yes he does seem a bit puny doesn't he? And thank you for reviewing :D **

**Nelle07: Thank you for agreeing! And haha I would so climb in with you, life would be over for Patroclus if he did! Thanks for reviewing darling xx**

**Saiyainprincess711: You are so sweet, you always write lovely comments about each chapter, and you've been here from the start! So honestly thank you for being so dedicated to me and this story xx **

**RavenclawSlytherin: Thank you! And I will my lovely! Xx**

**Justapersonwithapony: Thank you! Haha I orginate from a hot as hell country, so I'm used to it, although the weather of England pisses me off, rains and is sunny five times in one day -_- I hope you like this chapter and that it satisfies you **

**C0nt0rtedM1nd: thank you for the correction, I have too much faith in spell check to correct everything for me, I actually have so many typo's and spelling mistakes in my stories, and even when I proof read it I sometimes don't notice. So thank you for that! That's not a bad thing, it is a game about death after all! And haha you were right in thinking so, she had a HUGE run in with the Careers in this! ;) Thanks for reviewing! **

**Silentxangel: Ahhh I'm sorry she disappointed you in that chapter, and don't worry about ranting you're entitled to your own opinion, not everyone is going to like every chapter I put on here so I respect you for letting me know! I'll admit that it's not my most liked chapter, it was basically a filler, and done in a rush as I wanted to get to the peak/climax of her time in the games, so I'm sorry that I didn't complete it to my full standards. In terms of the religion subject, I didn't plan on Faith having a specific religion, nor did she know the full knowledge of it, and since Suzanne Collins never really specified if it still existed I had to go with my own gut, my initial idea with Faith believing in god was for her to have some sort of inner hope on things, and cause she liked the idea of being that's meant to be all loving and omniscient watching over her. Yes I know what you mean, my taste in music is completely indecisive, I could be listening to someone like Trey Songz at one point in the day, and later on being listening to Snow Patrol or Coldplay, or even The Script! I love the Script! And yes, you are correct; I am from across the pond, greetings from London my friend! ^_^ **

**Anyway That's about much it for my authors note, other than thanks for reading, I'm so happy that you all enjoy reading this! **

**All my love,**

**StardustIsMagic xxx **


	15. Life

"_I'm About To Lose My Mind, You've Been Gone For So Long I'm Running Out Of Time. I Need A Doctor, Call Me A Doctor, A Doctor … To Bring Me Back To Life." - Dr. Dre Ft. Skylar Grey; I Need A Doctor._

* * *

"Claudius this is probably the most intense moment since Julius fought off five spiders single-handedly at the Cornucopia!"

Claudius nodded his head, green hair moving along with him due to it being gelled into spikes, both him and Caesar leaning forward in their chairs, elbows on the desk before them as they anticipated the next move of Faith Willows. The entire country had been watching the tense battle between her self and the Careers, surprising them a great deal when she had made it out alive, Caesar's suspicion in her doing a Johanna Mason had supposedly been correct.

"Did you see the way she was moving?" Claudius spoke without taking his eyes off the screen, watching Faith run with a ragged breath through the second arena, the spider mutation hot on her heels.

Caesar nodded absentmindedly speaking more to him self instead of Claudius and the audience, his memory briefly flickering to her dual with Sunny from District Four, "yes, so agilely and precise, faster than any other tribute I've ever seen!"

Silence took over the both of them, and those who were in the studio filming at this current time, watching as she finally reached the end of the bridge, jumping slightly to being climbing, and in her rush was sloppy. She rushed, slipping and yelling out in frustration as she heard the mutation reach her, it's large pincers clipping at her boots, a small screech left it as she kicked at it.

Her foot slipping and bringing her back down slightly, and in her rush she let go of the rocks with one hand, swinging her sword towards the eyes of the spider, having to try a couple of times before she successfully slashed the left side of it's eyes, earning another screech from the creature and it's momentary pause as it backed away from her slightly.

She took the chance to continue climbing, struggling still as she held the sword in one hand, eventually throwing it over the cliff edge as she was fast approaching it, not risking another look below her as she pulled herself up, not allowing herself to stop as she reclaimed her sword, taking off in another run.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the first time a mutation of the second arena will be entering the other, and boy do we look like we're in for a treat!"

Caesar grinned gleefully, quickly looking to Claudius and sharing the moment, his red tinted eyebrows raised as he waited for another tense filled moment, craving the entertainment and blood splatter.

"Caesar I can honestly say I've never felt shivers up my spine like this, not since Finnick Odaire's victory in the 65th games!"

"I think those who are watching can say the exact same Claudius!"

They watched as she only looked back once in her running, due to the loud screeching of the spider that was once again hot on her tail, not as fast as before due to the injury in it's eye, it's pincer's snapping angrily at the one who had injured it. She groaned in pain, most likely now feeling the wound in the back of her shoulder, rushing as she tried to reach her destination before the fast approaching sunset. The watched for a few more minutes as she continuously ran, the loss of blood making her nauseous and stumble, having to lean against a tree at one point to clear her head.

"It's time for a break now my lovely people, but we shall be back as soon as possible to update you on what happens next with the enigma Faith Willows."

Both men took a deep breath of relief as one of the cameramen motioned with his hand that they were now off air, sitting back in their seats and allowing their makeup artists to retouch their faces and hair.

"Well, that was intense … I cannot believe she killed two Careers."

Caesar grunted in agreement to Claudius, thinking of how the game makers would be extremely unhappy with that stunt, the young girl killing off two of the most liked contestants before the final was a very bad move on her part, and knowing them they would most likely make life more difficult than it was for her.

It was already evident that they would push sunset closer, making it difficult for her to reach the boy from Two, and run in with the jungle's mutations, everyone knew that no tribute survived those. He felt slight guilt for the young girl, knowing she had no chance against a spider mutation already, facing a herd more in the jungle; her injury was clouding her vision and slowing her down as it was.

"Her mentor must be pulling his hair out right now; I've never seen a more careless tribute-"

"We're back on air in thirty seconds gentlemen!"

The men straightened up, adjusting their bright coloured ties and plastering large smiles on their faces, as the cameramen counted them in, the screen with a close up on Faith's face projected behind them.

"Welcome back people of Panem, to the most gruelling and surprising episode to date."

The studio was engulfed in silence as they watched on, seeing that the sun was setting earlier than usual, an angry look taking over the young tributes face as she stumbled once more and fell over, taking far too long to recover from the fall and push herself up once more, staggering slightly while looking at the sunset.

"_What? It's too early."_

She said no more, only pushing herself to run faster, much faster than before, a new determination set inside her as she pressed on, thinking of who was waiting for her, who needed her back with them. The howls of the jungle's mutations echoed around the arena before the final stroke of sun disappeared, making Faith stop in her tracks, face contorted into complete and utter horror. A huge mistake on her part, as she didn't anticipate just how close the spider was to her this time, and barrelled towards her, knocking her right off her feet face first into the muddy ground.

She rolled over on the ground, the large spider now on top of her, it's pincers pinching at her torso while she screamed out, one hand pushing it's head away with all her strength, while the other tried to retrieve the sword she had dropped without looking, She was sandwiched between the muddy floor and the spider's large brown frame, the hairs on it's eight legs brushing her skin slightly. She looked down to its rear end, seeing the sting that was slowly emerging, ready to penetrate her skin and poison her.

"Looks like it won't be the jungle's mutations that kill her off." Claudius muttered to Caesar, who made no response except keep his stare on the screen, completely engrossed in the situation before him, hanging onto the very feeling of not knowing what would come next.

"My word Claudius, I don't think I've ever felt so anxious!"

Faith acting on pure instinct and out of unwillingness of dying by the hand of a creature like this, and stuck her fingers into the slashed eyes of the spider, pushing them deep and making sure it hurt the beast. It did the job, successfully making the beast shriek in agony, retreating away from her slightly, giving her the time to crawl over to her sword, grabbing it in her hands and rolling over onto her back once more as the creature moved to attack her.

The entire audience of Panem gasped, shocked and in complete wonder of how she had managed to stab the beast right before it would have plunged it's sting into her abdomen, successful in pushing it deeper, green slime which must have been the beasts blood seeping out of it's gaping wound and onto her torso. Quickly so she wouldn't get stuck under the slowly dying spiders body, she pulled out her sword and crawled away from it.

Breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath, stray tears leaving her eyes as she gritted her teeth, most likely from the ever growing pain of her shoulder wound. Her blood dripped from her wound and onto the dirt before her, and her face resting on the ground as she gathered herself for a few minutes, seeming to completely forget that it was now nightfall.

It may have seemed to her like her troubles were over, but to the eyes of Capitol, who had every view of the cameras, they revelled in the fact that it still wasn't over for the young girl. That her troubles had only begun, and she realized all too late with that fact, there was no chance of her getting away now. The loud roar of the jungle's mutation was loud and clear, her head lifting up from the ground to set her eyes on the mutation for the first time in her life, her eyes widening in horror at what lay before her.

* * *

"She is trying to kill me of stress, I swear!"

Cato ran his hands through his hair, his elbows resting on the table before him, the wide flat screen in front of him showing Faith fall from the rocks and onto the metal bridge, gritting her teeth as she made impact with the bridge on her back. He visibly winced watching that, closing his eyes for a moment, feeling the oncoming headache. He sat in his own small viewing room; each mentor from each District was given one to view the games. It was placed beside many others in a long hallway, each door had the Districts printed number on it, and it was here where a mentor would collect sponsors and distribute them by a computer for the game makers to give, while watching their tributes of course.

Cato had rarely left the room, being a first time mentor he really had no idea on how to do his job, he just knew he couldn't miss a second of Faith and Mico's time in the game, for instance if he wasn't here at the crack of dawn, and was on level 2 in his bed, he wouldn't have seen the irrational decision Faith had made to infiltrate the second arena.

She was slowly driving him insane, first with her not killing off the blonde from District One, then accepting the alliance of Seven, that spoke for itself in his mind, and then she went and decided to steal from the Cornucopia, he had to wonder if she was actually stupid.

"She really is something."

Finnick didn't help in Cato stress, but more made fun of it, he took absolute joy in the fact Cato was reeling at Faith, from whom he found intriguing to watch. He spent more time lurking in Cato's viewing room than he did in his own, simply having too much confidence in the fact that his own tributes were doing fine, and was actually excited to see if the two Districts would encounter each other.

"Shut up." Cato's teeth gritted together, attempting to keep his emotions in check as he watched Faith walk through the misty canyon, her green eyes looking around her in wonder, bewildered by the secrecy of the arena.

He hated her at this point, because she was making him worry, and it bothered him that he did, because he cared, too much for his liking, and for reasons he was still trying to decipher. He knew the inevitable would be coming any day now, that she would eventually have to give up her life in order for Mico to win, and he was dreading it, he would refuse to watch the screen as she died in those last moments of the Hunger Games.

He didn't expect it to be this difficult, to just sit here and watch them suffer, watch them struggle to live and try to act like everything was okay, like they were completely unaware of what loomed over them. He didn't know whether it was he was new to this, or because he genuinely cared too much for the both of them, but it was getting to him badly, maybe it was both.

His mind went back to when he had kissed Faith, not knowing why he actually did it, but he remembered what he felt when he saw her break, because it must have been what it felt like for him when Clove had died; lost. Contrary to popular belief Clove hadn't been as vicious as the TV had made her out to be, she was after all a young girl herself, being only fifteen, and although she had a love for fighting it didn't mean she didn't have a family to go to.

In the end every victor didn't actually come out as a winner, the only thing you came out with was your life, and even then you knew it didn't belong to you anymore, it belonged to _him_. That sickening man who truly had a black heart, who relished in the suffering of others, no one could say they didn't fear Snow, not even Faith. Yes, she was bull headed and stubborn, but even she must have known what it would cost to cross Snow, and in a way Cato was glad that she wouldn't be returning, because he knew the life of a victor would be one she couldn't handle.

She may keep a brave face and behave as if nothing affected her, but the night before her entry into the Games proved how easy she could be broken, even if it was for a moment, but he knew Faith wouldn't be able to handle the rest of her life under Snow's watchful eye.

He would have sent sponsors within a minute if she had any, the fight at the Cornucopia just peaked people's interest in her, leaving the girl from One alive was a bad move for many reasons, if she had killed her the sponsors would have begun flying in.

His stomach dropped as he saw the tributes from One and Four emerge from the Cornucopia, both with their weapon of speciality in their hands, while Faith stared at them angrily. He gasped quietly, fearing the worst, already thinking that in a couple of minutes he would have to look away from the screen as they killed her.

"The game makers are probably jumpin' in their seats right now."

"Finnick. Now is _really _not the time."

Finnick held up his hands in mock surrender behind Cato, grinning like a child as he took steps back towards the door, "alright, alright I'm leaving."

Cato sat in complete silence for the next twenty minutes as he watched the entire scene unfold before him, his breath hitching in his throat multiple times, and breathing a long sigh of relief as he watched her cut Sunny's throat. A feeling of pride

surged through him, not because she had killed the girl, but because she had finally taken a step closer to being less stupid, she was beginning to think clearly, understanding that in order to leave it was killed or be killed.

His jaw visibly dropped however when he saw the dagger she plunged into One's arm go right through the metal, metal that was meant to be so strong and not easily penetrated, that was inhuman strength right there. He always knew she was secretive of herself, and what skills she possessed, but he never knew to that extent, and he was annoyed slightly at the fact she hadn't trusted him enough to let him know a little more about her, he thought he made a breakthrough with her, and he thought that it was confirmed when she told him her specialty in weapon.

He watched on the edge of his seat continuously for the next hour, the worrying feeling inside him becoming stronger as her take each staggering step through the forest, attempting to get away from the insect mutation, silently praying that this one time, she would escape with her life, and for a reason he still couldn't understand why, it wasn't just because he wanted her to keep Mico safe. He wanted her to be safe.

* * *

Julian sneered at the boy before him, pulling the trident out of his chest harshly, ignoring the whimper of pain from Eleven, feeling nothing but disgust for such a pathetic District.

"How last years Eleven tribute almost beat Two is actually bewildering."

He was holding the young boy by the collar, looking as if he were physically repulsed to even be within a metre of him, dropping him and letting his still body fall to the dirt, a canon soon going off in the distance. He stood there for a few moments, surveying the area around him, the now pitch black sky of the arena, this only being his second time that he had ventured into this place.

It was by complete accident that he and Wiley had run into the boy from Eleven, now making him part of the final five, knowing that soon he would be the sole and only survivor, the winner of the Seventy Fifth Annual Hunger Games, and smirked to himself. Wiley stood quietly behind him, her eyes slightly red due to the mourning of her now dead twin, Julian didn't even understand her, she had entered the games with her brothers, surely she knew that eventually one would have to kill the other if she intended on willing, or maybe blondes really were stupid.

He took a step back from the body, giving it one last fleeting look before he turned around and began walking away, pushing past Wiley, and the large silver trident held tightly in his hand.

"Julian maybe we should get in the trees, the mutations should be around now."

Wiley's voice was quite, but in no way indicated that she was soft or weak, it was simply cold, as if she had put a brick wall up around her mind and heart, now knowing nothing stood in the way of her victory now, and she would make sure that she would be the one the make District Two suffer the most painful and stomach churning death she could think of.

She rubbed her shoulder, feeling strangely weird that it had healed so easily, especially since it should have been a fatal wound, the beauty of the Capitol's medicine. She still didn't really understand why Two had left her alive, probably a way of looking compassionate to the Panem, trying to look as if she were the most noble person here, Wiley gritted her teeth, temper flaring as she thought of the ginger.

Julian scoffed, almost insulted by Wiley's underestimation of his talents, "Please, like the game makers are stupid enough to send them after us, we're their favourites." He didn't care whether they heard him or not, it wasn't as if they could do much worse to them at this point, they'd most likely cut away from his live feed, "Besides, if we do cross paths with them .. It'll be their downfall."

Twisting the trident around in his hand for emphasis, his eyes narrowing as he began walking through the thick bushes, pushing them away carelessly, while Wiley followed closely behind him, her thick rope hung around her shoulders, praying that she could use it soon, and show the game makers just what she was truly capable of when it came down to rope.

"I'm sick and tired of that little bitch getting away by the skin of her teeth."

"So what do you suppose we do?"

Julian's green eyes shine darkly, his smirk becoming more sinister than it had been before, and he spoke with a low tone, making his next statement just that much more fearful, a visible shiver of excitement and fear for the viewers of Panem would crawl up their spines as he spoke.

"We end this. All of it. We end her once and for all."

* * *

**I do genuinely apologize for Cato's POV not being longer, but I did genuinely struggle in it, and I was for a while not planning on doing one at all, but in one of my readers reviews they suggested a Caesar/Julian POV as well as Cato's, so the idea of joining all three into one chapter came to my head, as all of them would have been difficult to write one whole chapter about. I seriously am afraid that none of you will like Cato's pov, I'm still sceptical about it, I feel as if I haven't done a good job … God I sound like a mug lol. But if you don't like me, do tell me and I'll try to rewrite it or make it better … BUT if this chapter goes down well with you all, I'll try another! … anyway I'll get onto the replies!**

**RaveclawSlytherin: Thank you! And I will! :D **

**HermoineandMarcus: Thank you so much, and hope you liked this chapter too!**

**Nelle07: Julian is going to be hell, let me assure you on that! And now you get to see what Cato's thinking ;) Thanks for reviewing!**

**Dra9onf7yz: Haha, yes she did! And it IS some serious strength! Strange girl isn't she ;) :P Thanks for reviewing like you always do :D xx**

**Raynacch Silvermoon: Wonderful of you to think so! And thank you for liking my story, and yes if this chapter goes well then I might do another! :D and thank you for the inspiration of part of this chapter, you're the reason I added the Caesar Flickerman part, so thank you for that!**

**Justapersonwithapony: haha I would die too, I actually have the WORST fear of spiders, I don't care about what people say when they say they're more scared of us, they creep me the F**K out! And just remember darling she isn't real, I don't think there are many people who would really be that reckless and brave, and I'm sure you're brave when you need to be! Thank you for reviewing again :D xxx**

**JosefinaPeleso: Haha sorry, but I hope this update makes up for itt! And thank you for reviewing my lovely xx**

**C0nt0r3dm1nd: haha, I hope it's because she finally had the courage to kill someone? And not think twice about it? And so do I, I hate spiders so much! And they definitely had it coming, although I did feel abit bad for Caville! Aha this chapters a bit calmer! Although the next two or three after this should pick up the pace again! Thanks again for taking time to review! **

**Saiyanprincess711: Haha, I have so much love for this story, and writing it that I honestly cannot keep away! And thank you for that, the spiders took a lot of thought, Lord of the Rings inspired me on that, in the third film when Sam and Frodo fight the spider Shelob! That was an awesome scene! So yeah if you've seen that then you'll have a better idea of what they look like! And I hate spiders too! REALLY HATE THEM! Thanks for reviewing beautiful **

**Geranium08: Haha yes it was and I hope this answers your question on who gets her! A lot of drama to come! And me too! I can't wait to write that part! And hopefully it will be a happy ending! **

**Hazu23: Awwww thank you darling, that is lovely of you to say! Hope you liked this chapter too :D xx**

**Biggestpotterhead: No worries, you don't have to review, but the fact that you do makes me thankful enough! And it's okay you can say it, I wont bite your head off, you thought that she beat two careers was a little unrealistic I suppose? It's okay I can see why that would baffle you, but please believe me when I say this, have faith in me and where I'm taking her character wise, there's a lot more to Faith and her history is deep, so hopefully you understand it all more as the story progresses Thanks for reviewing once again :d xxx**

**AlexShah: Haha, yeah it really was! Thanks for reviewing and hope you like this chapter **

**The-trident-in-finnicks-pants: Really? Yay! That was my aim with the last chapter, and I promise I will! **

**Bubz: Thank you! And I will!**

**Wearethelight: Don't worry about it I understand! And thank you for thinking so, I spent a long time thinking about how bad I though thirteen was :/ so thank you for the encouragement! And thank you haha, I loved writing Caville's one the most, though I did feel abit bad! And sorry, I'll try not to make you upset again! And ahhhhh, I take English Lit, Drama and Theatre Studies, and R.E … And Haha I've started revision for one subject, thank god the hardest (and longest exam) English is in june! Good luck with yours my love! And thank you for reviewing! Xxx**

**Kiralol101: Welcome new reader, I'm glad I caught your eye tonight ;) thank you for your kind words! Your thoughts on my plot, characterisation and pacing is wonderful! Believe me, there were a lot of times where I wanted to make them kiss, but new it would be too fast, I almost didn't even add that kiss in! But decided against doing that because I didn't want to torture the readers anymore, and with the elevator scene I was looking so hard to find something that would be a small powerful gesture and TADAA, the hand holding came to me! As for Patroclus, all of that will become much clearer very soon, and hope you like this chapter with Cato! Thank you for the heart felt review my dear, until the next time!**

**Well, I really am praying this chapter goes down well with you all, because I am actually worried none of you will like it! Sorry if it's bad! **


	16. Drop

"_A Door Left Open, A Woman Walking By, A Drop In The Water, A Look In The Eye, A Phone On Your Table, A Man On Your Side, Or Someone That You Think That You Can Trust Is Just Another Way To Die." – Jack White & Alicia Keys; Another Way To Die._

* * *

A monster. They had truly created a monster, and it surpassed any form of creature they had ever produced, nothing could be classed more disgusting than what stood across from me, growling and ready for attack. For the first time in my life I was truly more scared than I had been since my father's death, my body shook slightly, breathing ragged and my shoulder burning as if it were on fire.

What had caught me first was it's eyes, if you could even call it that, shaped just like that of a humans, but had no iris or pupils, the entire thing was simply white, almost sickening, and if it didn't completely face me I would have assumed it was blind. My eyes had then moved to its jaw, resembling the size of a Lions, and snapped continuously, saliva dripping from it constantly, drooling as if it hadn't seen an edible meal in centuries. The skin was a dark shade of grey, somehow mixed in with brown, except it looked as if it were leather, rubbery almost, and far beyond smooth looking, jagged as if it had faced many wars. Its nose however was barely visible, as they were clearly supposed to have excellent sense of smell I was partly surprised to see that there was no nose, just simple two rather small holes above its jaw, almost unnoticeable if you didn't concentrate on it. Not that I'm sure many tributes got to.

It's body could actually been seen as the frame of a human, only taller, much taller, it stood on it's hind legs, but looked as if it ran on all fours, and it's claws were almost as long as it's jaws, perfect for when trying to catch it's prey.

For a moment it roared, loud for the entire arena to hear in the night, and its neck rotated slightly, as if sorting the kinks in its neck, and it's back bended forward unnaturally, slowly lowering itself onto all fours, it's spine peaking out of its skin looking as if it would tear out at any moment. I felt a churning in my stomach, and bile rose in my throat, fighting to keep it down and to stop myself from being sick, I couldn't have time for that.

I felt as if the game makers were teasing me, by only sending one as if it were a test, that if I could beat one, then a whole group would be sent, and I had no doubt in my mind that they would enjoy watching these mutations ripping and picking the flesh away from my bones, as if it were for recreational purposes.

The samurai sword lay abandoned by the spider, now dead, and I wasn't far from it, if I got up quickly enough and ran I could at least intercept the creature's first attack. I had no idea to what extent this creature's skill could go, it already looked awfully flexible, it would find my attacks and swings more than easy to dodge, and its claws would easily rip my chest or abdomen open. I was done for, that much I knew, they didn't create these creatures for you to get away from them by the skin of your teeth, they created them to annihilate us.

The creature walked back and forth, as if watching its prey, daring me to make a move, and being the stupid person I was; I did. I pushed myself up as fast as I could, diving for the sword just as the creature was sprinting towards me, jumping the final leg with its jaws snapping and its claws ready to embed itself into my skin. I barely jumped out of the way, screaming in complete agony as I felt its claw slash across my back, ripping at my skin and completely shredding my backpack, its contents falling out and at the bag that had once contained the carrots tore open, scattering everywhere.

I sucked in a breath and turned to face it, taking steps away from it, distancing myself as it began to circle me.

Ignore the pain Faith, clear your mind and think, do what you were made to do. I repeated those words continuously in my head, the feeling of disorientation leaving me, adrenaline once again kicking in and now feeling wide awake. The Capitol were sure going to extreme lengths to kill me, I'd be damned before I succumbed to their want and needs, I had someone else's I needed to put first.

My mind relaxed, almost as if it were empty, no thought going through it, not even a plan of attack, and my mind ran on autopilot, something I almost never allowed to happen. I stared down the beast, my eyes narrowed as I looked into it's ghostly white ones, and without any iris's or pupils, I couldn't exactly be sure of whether it was staring right back, but the snarls it released proved it was about to attack once more.

It ran at a full speed, almost as if it thought I wouldn't anticipate it, until I ran too, pushing my feet from the ground as if I were ready for race, sprinting towards it, my sword held in both hands in front of me, the blade ready for a slash. The beast roared louder as we got closer, and one of it's claws raised, ready to dig into me, and then I dropped to the floor, sliding in between it's legs and slashing at its abdomen, making sure it was a deep cut, it's thick black blood seeping out and onto my jacket as I came out the opposite end.

It let out another roar as it staggered, turning around to face me once again and charging just as I pulled myself to my feet taking me off guard, it jumped over me, extremely high, making sure it's claw reached out and once again slashed at me, this time between my neck and shoulder, much deeper too. I dropped to my knees in an instant, my teeth clenching and grinding down to keep another scream of agony from leaving my mouth, and my eyes clamped shut in order to stop the spring of tears, I kept my ears open, listening as I heard another roar and it's large footing bound it's way towards me.

I heard the swing of it's arm before I even opened my eyes, and my head ducked, although it happened very painfully, the creature narrowly missing my head, only for it to swing backwards and hit me again, the unbelievable strength of the creatures blow sent me flying, and I crashed into the trees beside me, my head knocking into it hard. Millions of little black dots filled my vision as I lay beside the tree, my head strangely felt light, but heavy at the same time, the blood loss becoming too much for me. I was beyond weak, out of shape, my wounds were to great, almost fatal, and I lay there catching my breath as the mutation stood above me, on it's hind legs once more as a human, it's leathery skin almost shining in the moonlight, but portrayed anything but the essence of beauty. It brought the image of death, fear and cruelty, everything President Snow lived for; he had created this.

It knew this battle was over and now watched as I suffered, seeming to revel in it as it growled continuously, prolonging the ending of my life, it almost reminded me of a human. Slowly, as if it were a game, its right arm raised once more, ready to deliver the final killing blow, and when its arm was raised in the air fully, it let out one final roar.

There, was where it had made its mistake, toying with its prey, wasting time instead of just going in for the kill. It's arm came down as if in slow motion, and I silently wondered how this would look to the eyes of Panem as they watched this, the sword that was once limp in my hand now tightened in my grip, pushing myself to my knees and my arm lifting quickly to plunge to sword into the mutations chest, embedding it deeply. At that same time the creatures paw once more plunged into my neck, the same spot from where it had struck me from before. But even now, through my scream of pain, one that I'm sure echoed throughout the entire arena, I could tell that his claws loosened in my flesh, not as tight as it didn't anticipate my fatal blow.

Its midnight blood seeped out of its chest, sliding down the sword and onto my hands, dripping to the floor. It were as if the creature was in shock, for it stood stock still and un moving, making no sound as it stared straight ahead, at the tree trunk, not even breathing, it's eyes unmoving, not that I'm sure it even blinked in the first place. Finally it dropped, my grip on my sword loosing as it went down with the beast, and the sound of impact when it hit the dirt was almost as if it were a trigger, a large sigh of relief leaving me, as I thought for now it was over.

Fatigue hit me, harder than anything I had felt before, and I could feel my shirt and jacket practically soaked in both mine and the creatures blood, black and red mixing together. The irony of it, as it was the signature colours of District Two, almost making this entire situation funny.

I held onto the tree as I pulled myself up, and pathetically pulling out the sword from the creature's chest, no more strength in me. My eyes drooped, and I wasn't sure if it was because I was tired, or because I was about to die, death was something that now didn't scare me as much, as I knew it wouldn't be as painful as it could have been with the mutations. I wanted to lie down, watch the stars somewhere one last time, as my breath finally left me, the closest thing I would get to a peaceful death in this place.

No. I had a job to do, and I would finish it even if it killed me faster. My steps were slow and heavy, and I continuously tripped over my own two feet as I walked towards the medical kit, picking use my free hand to pick up Mico's medical kit, leaving the other there. It felt like it weighed a ton in my hand, and it took all the strength I had left to keep it from dragging me to the floor. I leaned on as many trees as possible as I walked through the night, praying that I wouldn't find another beast in my path, and with all the blood I left behind me I wouldn't be surprised if I eventually did.

I wondered how this looked on TV, Capitol people with eyes wide and jaws open, probably anticipating another creature to find me, craving it, wanting more, and sucking any life from us we could have possibly had. Mostly I wondered what Cato thought, if he was watching, how he was feeling, if he _cared_ that I was about to die, I could even imagine him narrowing his eyes at me, yelling at me for being stupid in going to the Cornucopia in the first place. I coughed out a laugh, the taste of iron on my tongue as I did so, and through all the pain and disorientation I still managed to smile slightly, looking up to the trees above as my back rested on a tree, knowing that a camera somewhere zooming into my face right now.

"Sorry Cato."

It was the last words I muttered, and I felt gravity leave me, my body falling slowly to the ground, my head hit the surface of the jungle floor, and my vision began to blur images and colour meshing together, and green, lots and lots of green. The sound of shouting was muffled, almost inaudible, I couldn't even make out what was being said, or if I was even hallucinating it, and my vision darkened completely. It seemed that death had taken me now.

A pain in my head, that's the first thing I thought when I felt conscious, but everything was dark, _really _dark, and for a second I actually was lost on where I was. I was supposed to be dead, the amount of wounds I had taken should have kept my mind blank forever, but instead I felt a pain in my head, that was definitely a sign of me being alive, and the quite groan I released was another confirmation.

"Did you hear that? I think she's waking up."

I would recognise that voice anywhere, I had spent far too long listening every five minutes to not know it, and I tried to respond, but the first task was to open my eyes. They felt just as heavy as when I was about to collapse, the memories of the Cornucopia and what had happened after that flashed by me all too quickly, and caused another jolt of pain in my head. I pulled my hand to my head so fast that I accidentally whacked my forehead, hearing the quite laughter from two voices, and when my eyes finally opened I used my hand to shield away the rays of sunlight coming through.

"Faith? You okay? Want me to get you some water?"

I shook my head softly, my eyes still trying to get used to the sun once more, I must have been out for a long time, because it wasn't even half way through the night when I had commenced in a battle with two different monsters. I was encased in something warm, a sleeping bag to be precise, the sleeping bag I had given to Mico, and the one he had been sleeping in when he had come down with a fever.

Mico, he was ill before I left him, and now he was sitting beside me on his knees, a happy smile on his brown face, I tried sitting up, only to hiss in pain and be pushed back down by another pair of hands, I turned to my left to see the brown mop of hair that belonged to Patroclus.

"Stay where you are, you're not fully healed yet, but the wounds have closed up."

"What happened?" I asked groggily, closing my eyes momentarily as I felt another jolt of pain from my headache.

"I found you, you weren't far from us … and I heard your scream- well we both did. You were near dead when I found you."

Patroclus's tone was soft, as if he couldn't believe that I was here, and I didn't say anything, allowing him to carry on.

"When we brought you back here I thought you were gonna die … that was when the sponsors came."

"You shoulda' seen it Faith! It was like one parachute after another, full of just medicine and food, enough to keep you alive and our stomach full for days."

I listened to ever word, Patroclus's hopeful voice and Mico's over excitement; someone must have really liked us to be that generous with their money if they gave us that many gifts in one go.

"I don't know what you did out there Faith, but whatever it was, was enough to make practically all of Panem throw money at your mentor."

So that's what it took; a load of deaths and action in order to want to keep a tribute alive, it's not that I was surprised, more annoyed to be honest, if I had simply been attacked by a mutation and left for dead without fighting, I knew for a fact that I wouldn't have been sent sponsors. But the fact that I had killed not only two tributes, but two mutations seemed like golden television to them, they probably thought if I was kept strong they'd get to see more.

"By the way, that medicine you brought for Mico worked like a charm, he was up and working within the hour."

Mico bent down to plant a kiss on my cheek, his face staying there and smiling sweetly at me, I smiled back as I looked at him, innocent brown eyes connecting with green, and quietly he muttered a thank you. I winked in return, wanting nothing but to hug him till my hearts content, only I didn't think I could lift my arms right now.

I looked down to my torso, seeing that my tank top was gone, my chest and shoulders covered in bandages, and my black sports bra that had been given to be was the only form of clothing I had on my torso. Patroclus cleared his throat awkwardly, and when I turned to look at him he had a pink tinge to his cheeks, embarrassed because I probably guessed he was the only to undress me.

"Sorry about that, but your jacket and top were covered in blood, and really dirty too, it would have given you an infection, and I had to bandage you up."

I shook my head at him, letting him know it wasn't a bother, "It's fine, I understand. Thank you."

He nodded, grinning slightly, pinks still cheek, and I couldn't help but find it rather cute on the young boy. I smiled back, a small one, conveying more of my gratitude through it, after all he had saved my life and nursed me back to health, and with his help I began to sit up, taking the fruit Mico offered me as breakfast.

"How long was I out for?"

"Two days," Mico muttered, as he unfolded my blank tank top, still dirty, but probably deemed safe to wear now that my wounds were closed and covered up, "I though you'd never wake up. What even happened?"

"Careers and mutations." I muttered, not wanting to go into detail, I didn't want to scare Mico with what I had seen that night, and knowing the conversation was over he changed to subject, although I tried to ignore the curios gaze Patroclus directed towards me.

"Cato sent us messages by the way, with the sponsors …"

He fished something out of his jacket pocket, smiling brightly once more as he passed small slips of paper towards me, I slowly reached out for it, ignoring the ache in my neck as I did so, and took the slips of paper, reading them one by one, my scowl deepening with each message.

_Use wisely._

_Congratulations. The Capitol finally loves you._

_You better survive._

_You are actually insane._

_Don't you ever be that stupid again._

Although I looked towards the camera's in the higher trees with a glare on my face, I couldn't help but smile slightly, a feeling of warmth inside of me knowing that Cato had clearly worried so much, that he cared about my well being, and I looked to my lap as I once again thought of our kiss, biting my lip to stop another blush coming on. Honestly, I had just almost died and I could only think about the mentor I apparently had feelings for, my priorities were strangely messed up.

I kept the notes in my hand, my mind going back to the fact that there were five; we had received five sponsors in one day. That was actually rather unbelievable, yet flattering at the same time, I muttered a small thank you, knowing the microphones on the cameras would definitely catch that, and hopefully they would know it was directed to them, and a little towards Cato.

"So how bad are my injuries?" I asked Patroclus after a couple hours of general conversation, being caught up in what had gone on, finding out that the boy from Eleven had died two nights ago, the same night I had almost died.

He looked off in the distance, his tongue sticking out of his mouth like that of a child as he thought back to when he probably last checked, "the one on your neck was huge scabs, and the one on your back just looked like one big pink scar."

"Must be some medicine," I muttered, thinking how almost impossible it was for wounds that deep to be healed so quickly.

"Yeah," Patroclus chuckled, "it was pretty amazing, gotta give credit where it's due."

He was right, as much as it irritated me that The Capitol had probably only sent sponsors due to their increase of entertainment, they had saved my life, buying me more time to keep Mico alive, and for that I would always be extremely thankful.

I hadn't lost my sword either, which was a bonus, Patroclus had picked that up as well as me when he found my nearly dead body, and it was only now that I was starting to appreciate his presence more and more, maybe he was a good choice after all. He behaved nothing like when I had first allied with him, he was definitely more talkative, more happy, and I couldn't help but enjoy his company as well as Mico's, the rest of the afternoon was filled with light hearted conversation, as well as the changing of my bandages. Patroclus had left the one for the back of my shoulder off, saying that it was okay now to expose, that it wasn't in danger of catching an infection, but replaced the one around my neck with another, that being still in danger of infection.

I had probably had the best supper that night in weeks, it consisted of a mouth watering loaf of bread, along with cheese cucumber, a sandwich I was more than content in devouring, and after that came a leg of perfectly roasted chicken, enough of it to go around for the three of us, apparently they had been saving it for when I had awoken, almost as if it were a celebration.

All too soon the sun set, encasing the arena once more in darkness, and the silver stars dotted the sky perfectly, something that was beautiful to look at, feeling the chill Patroclus had handed my dirty tank top and jacket back, deeming it safe for me to wear it now that my wounds weren't as bad. I pulled the top over me, thankful to no longer have my stomach exposed, and draped the coat over Mico and I, who curled up beside me to my left, head resting on my left shoulder, his small hands holding onto my arm, not that I minded, since I craved his presence.

I was overly happy at this moment, nothing could be done to ruin my mood, for this moment in time, even in the situation, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here.

Naturally, this feeling of euphoria was taken away from me as soon as it came, alerting both Patroclus and I like an alarm had been let off in our ears. The growls of the mutations were clearer and closer than they had ever been, and all I had to do was tilt my head downwards to see a group of four climbing up the tree, clawing at it, and at a rapid pace.

Their over salivated jaws snapping continuously and snarling, furious, reeling, they weren't hungry for meet, they were out for blood, and I knew whose; mine. Stupid was what I should call myself, I was actually stupid, no doubt they had found the dead mutation, probably one of their own, and I looked to the jacket that I held in my hands, which was covered in that very mutations blood, they had traced it, followed the scent back to me. But the Capitol had only allowed them to do so when I was awake, there wasn't any good in a fighting tribute after all if she was unconscious, I sneered in the darkness. Pulling Mico to his feet, his alarmed face was evident as I zipped his jacket up, making sure he had his knife with him.

"Patroclus, we don't have much time, but take Mico and into another tree, I don't know where but just keep climbing into other ones."

"What about you?" He asked urgently, as he attempted to gather what supplies he could, while the other tried tucking his axe into his belt, nudging Mico in another direction, and I quickly kissed his head before I let him go, the sound of the mutations growls getting closer urging me further away from them.

"It's me they're after, I'll lead them away … I'm stronger than I was before … maybe not the strongest I could be, but I am strong. When I lose them I'll come meet you at the place we talked about Mico."

He nodded as I pulled the jacket onto me, knowing that the mutations would follow the scent of both bloods, grabbing my sword and ignoring the ache in my neck, I watched they then disappeared into the branches of the next tree, attempting to be as quite as possible, and began walking through the branches on the opposite end, smacking my sword against the wood to draw their attention.

It worked, as I soon felt the branch I was on wobble, they were close, following me, and without looking back I jumped down of the branch, landing on the ground beneath me, stumbling onto my knees, wincing slightly in pain. They roared as they noticed, and I knew that they would soon follow, and breaking into a sprint through the forest, and headed towards the river. They may have been good at nearly everything, but I doubted that they could swim, well more of hoped it really, otherwise the one and only plan I had would completely fail me, and then I would be dead for good.

The entire group of mutations roared in a chorus, as if they made one large beast together, one giant unbeatable force, unstoppable, and in that sense I completely believed it, trying to ignore the sounds of their paws beating against the ground nearing me, once again running for my life.

* * *

**I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter, lots and lots of drama/action, and some progression in friendships too. As you've guessed it's getting closer to the end of Faith's Hunger Games, and the showdown of her and Julian is fast approaching my friends! BTW I'm sorry to disappoint, but Friday will be my last update on this story for a few weeks, apart from the odd updates if I have time, because my first A2 exam is next Wednesday, and I'll be sitting at my desk for a whole other reason – REVISION! Ha so yes, sorry about that but I will not keep you starved from the story, it just wont be as frequent!**

**ALSO - OMFG ON THE TWO HUNDRED REVIEWS, AND THE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN STORY ALERTS, AND THE ELEVEN THOUSAND HITS! WTF? WHAT IS GOING ON? WHY ARE YOU GUYS SO AMAZING? I WANT TO VIRTUALLY KISS YOU ALL ON THE FOREHEAD NOW! *MWAH* Seriously, thank you so much for all of that, and your fantastic support to this story, it's wonderful of you all, honestly xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (loads of x's because I LOVE you all!)**

**REPLIES:**

**Nelle07: Thank you! I'm sorry for that, and I'll try harder for it to be longer next time! Thank you for reviewing!**

**LouTheThird: Thank you! The Caesar/Claudius one was my favourite to write, because they mostly represented the Capitol's view on it all! And Greek Mythology is awesome, so thank you for that :D**

**Dra9onf7yz: Oh she got her sponsors alright, but she had to go through hell to get them! Ha! And you'll just have to wait and see my lovely x **

**ScarsTellStories: Thank you for your awesome words my love, and glad you liked the Cato POV, ahaa I ahte spiders full stop! **

**RaynacchSilvermoon: Thhank you! Haha hope this answered your question my dear, thanks for reviewing! xx**

**C0T0RT3DM1ND: Sorry, I guess it wasn't afterall, and neither was thiss! thank you for everything darling, love the support! :D x**

**Anon: thank you, I just try to keep all my readers happy! And oh yes it will, thanks for reviewing fellow reader!**

**Kaleidascope-eyes1990: Haha sorry bout that, it was actually unintentionally, I just kept on writing with that part of the chapter! And thanks for reviewing again my dear, hope this chpater was good too! **

**saiyanprincess711: Thank you sweetheart, your kind words are always loved and appreciated by me, anddddd email me on your progress with your story :) Haha, tbh I think Julian is more cold blooded that Cato was in the games, Cato showed some humanity when he lost Clove, only Julian just seems to care about absolutely nothing, he even throws his own life around like a toy! Thanks again for reviewing dear xx**

**MaygenLynn: Thank you so much! I love that you love this story, Lol! And neither do I! Fingers crossed eh? Thanks for reviewing!**

**Me: Thank you, and I just try to do that so you readers don't have to constantly look online every day for a chapter! Hope you liked this one and thanks for reviewing!**

**bubz: I will i will!**

**geranium08: Thank you, thank you, thank oyu! I hope you liked this chapter just as much, and I will try to do another chapter like the one before, it just wont be frequent, because I don't wanna ruin the whole feeling of Faith's pres****ence ! Thank you for reviewin again my love, it was so nice of you too :)**

**HermoineandMarcus: Thank you, and I will I promise! **

**FYINichole: Thank you for thinking so :$ I will try to write more next time, it was just so hard because I was scared of making him OCC! and don't worry, that he has ;)**

**hazu23: Thank you so much, and so am I! Hmm Snow? That sounds interesting, I'll experiment and see if it works, thanks for the idea! Definitely taking it on board! :D Thank you, I love greek mythology! :D Take care my dear and thank you for the review!**

**alwaysamarauder16: Thank you I wont! And aha I don't know why I just had this image that Cato and Finnick would clash but at the same time work well, because Finnick's rather playful while Cato likes to think he's a king at times! So yeah, lol. and Ahhhh I forgot about those ones, Aragog was a hell of a spider! Creeped me out, but the one in Lord of the Rings was so much scarier, Shelob was sooooo evil! anyway thank you for reviewing again dear! **

**Justapersonwithapony: Awwww thank you, that was really lovely of you to say! I love Cato too, he's a wonderful character! and don't be silly any review is an important review to me! **

**RavenclawSlytherin: Thank you! I will my dear! :D**

**Kira101: THANK YOU! :D And yes, he was DEFINITELY feeling stress, his tributes just aren't getting breaks at the moment! thank you for thinking so and because that chapter worked so well I'll definitely do another soon, thank you for reviewing my friend and yes it is down to those five now :D xx **

**Biggestpotterhead: My 200th review! So high five for that! And thank you, I'll try to get another one out after my next chapter, and thanks for your faith in me! Really in the next couple of chapters to come you'll begin to understand, they're have been many hints though in the previous ones too ;) and as for Patroclus and Mico all will become clearer in the next two chapters, thanks for reviewing again dear, hope you have a good week!**

**Love you all wonderful readers, hope you liked this chapter, and look out for the next one on Friday :D Byeeee! ... wow these A/N are really getting long! haha!**


	17. Pain

"_Your Presence Still Lingers Here And It Wont Leave Me Alone, These Wounds Wont Seem To Heal, This Pain Is Just Too Real, There's Just Too Much That Time Cannot Erase. When You'd Cry I'd Wipe Away All Of Your Tears, When You'd Scream I'd Fight Away All Of Your Fears, And I Held Your Hand Through All Of These Years … But You Still Have Part Of Me." – Evanescence; My Immortal._

* * *

This had better work, this _needed _to work. The river was my only option, I couldn't even fight, my sword gone from attempting to swing it at one of the beasts when it had caught up to me, and it had sort of worked when it was struck in the jaw, only I didn't have time to pull it back out, and so I kept on running. I was defenceless, and weak, the ache in my neck always a reminder of my still fragile body. It just seemed these past couple of days I couldn't get a break, which only meant one thing, they wanted to end this, and soon at that.

The river wasn't far, from the very beginning of the games I made sure to not stray from it, always sticking within a two mile radius, and finally it would pay of, be of some use other than a water source. I bounded my way through the bushes, pushing at their branches as I got closer and closer, and not leaving my self a moments hesitation I dived into the murky water, feeling the cold substance consume me and cool my heated body.

We by the Cornucopia, which was now stripped of all its contents, and when my head ducked out of the water I could hear the howls of the mutations behind me, it seemed as if one had fallen in, not being able to slow down from it's sprint until it was too late. Luck had seemed to be on my side, because they did have a weakness, and they couldn't swim, the others paced back and forth on all fours, roaring angrily at me, while the other flounced about like a child learning to swim for the first time, the strong current pushing it further down the river and away from me.

I spared none of them any more glances, pushing my tired arms to paddle towards the Cornucopia, pulling myself up and out of the water, my drenched body shivering slightly. I would have to wait it out here, until morning, I had no doubt that the remaining three mutations would stay there all night. Tuning out their growls towards each other, and crawled my way into the Cornucopia, craving shelter and warmth. It was relatively small inside, and I wasn't at all surprised seeing as the supplies and weapons could barely fit into this little island in the middle of the river, in width it looked to be about the same size as one of the largest trees in the arena, its black walls reaching high up into the sky.

The sky was twice as clear as it was than when you were in the jungle, there were no branches or leaves to block your vision, and the dark blue sky looked so much more alive here, so much more beautiful. The artificial stars looked just as spectacular as real ones did back in Two, shining brightly as if it were a diamond, granting wishes to those who truly needed them. I could only keep my eyes open for another hour or so until I let sleep claim me, the content feeling of Mico's and Patroclus's faces hadn't been projected into the sky, and the fact that the mutations still lurked at the river bank, I fell into a slumber.

I jolted awake, some unknown force seeming to wake up, and when my eyes flew open it was filled with the scorching sun beating upon my skin, looking to be only an hour or so since it had risen. I was late, and groaning at my sore back from sleeping against the wall of the Cornucopia, I rose to my feet, knowing the scolding I would receive for being late. I should have been up at dawn, I was always up at dawn, it was just a natural habit, especially in Two when I would go to work. Shrugging off the dirty jacket I wore, I pulled off my tank top, un-wrapping the soaked and dirt bandages from my neck, no longer being of any use. I couldn't see what the scabs look like, but when thin fingers traced the four large claw marks I could tell they must have looked horrible. I stretched my neck a little before pulling my top back on, leaving the dirty jacket here, and the black stains of the mutations blood still evident on it, and I wouldn't want another repeat.

When I had gotten back to land, and began walking my destination, I found some entertainment in upbraiding my hair, and it hurt too of course, the amount of tangles in it was ridiculous, and I wished for a moment to have a brush, but settled with continuously running my fingers through it, still wet from my swim back to shore. The colour of my auburn hair seemed much darker when wet, though I could imagine Cato still protesting that it was ginger, and smiled despite my distaste for the nickname.

Almost a week ago, before meeting Patroclus, Mico and I had found a small area of beautiful flowers, and in the centre of that stood a short, but beautiful tree, covered in cherry blossoms. It seemed so out of place in a jungle such as this, so serene and calm, especially since this jungle wanted to portray the exact opposite to the people of Panem. It was mesmerising, almost like a Garden of Eden, surrounded by the taller and more jungle like trees, completely unique. We had agreed upon finding it that if we ever should be separated, that we would meet in that very place, not that I actually thought we would ever be separated. But he was in good hands, I trusted Patroclus for now, until it came down to when he wanted to survive, but for now he seemed to be genuine, and he had saved my life.

I returned back to tree we had been occupying for days first, because that was where I knew the way from, and it didn't take long, the tree had held many memories for Mico and I, but hadn't been all that comfortable. I didn't linger, still feeling on edge after the attack of the mutations, and carried on with my journey through the brushes. The Mockingjays hadn't sang a single note this morning, neither did any other bird in the forest, it was strange, because they always did, nothing stopped the creatures of the forest from filling my ears with their music or sound.

It worried me, making me think that the game makers were up to something, so I quickened my pace, speed walking and ignoring the humidity of the jungle in order to reach Mico faster, now that I had noticed the deadly silence of the entire jungle the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. This wasn't normal, and I could practically feel the cameras hidden in the trees move to capture my face, as if gauging my reaction to something. Maybe Julian was here, the first initial thought that went into my head was that he may have been following me, or was preparing to attack at any moment, and with me being absolutely defenceless I would die within an instant.

When a couple of minutes had gone by and nothing had happened, I was slowly accepting that maybe Julian wasn't close by me, for he would have taken the chance right now to skewer me, he had no patience what so ever.

I started running when I was reaching closer to the blossom tree, knowing that it would be only a few minutes away if I kept this pace, the rising worry within me was at an all time high, I was becoming irrationally scared, resulting in my act of stupidity to scream out Mico's name, thinking I would receive a reply, and if Julian was in fact in the area I was completely giving away my position. I stumbled over something, falling to the ground in a heap, hissing in pain as a jolt of paint when through my neck like lightening, and sitting up, I looked over to where my foot had caught onto something, finding that I had fallen over something solid.

The medic pack, the one I had stolen for Mico, was simply lying there, they wouldn't have simply dropped something like this and intentionally left it, medicine was too important in this arena. I stood, walking over to pick it up, and on closer inspection my heart gave a loud thump, skipping a beat and catapulting into an extremely fast pace, the pack was smeared with blood, some of it dry, while the bag still felt a little damp. I dropped it, turning my back on it and sprint away, my breathing increasing and tears stinging my eyes as I feared the worst, getting closer and closer to the clearing, which still felt so far away from my reach.

"Mico! Patroclus!"

They didn't answer, and seeing as I was getting so close to them they should have heard me, and replied as well, or given some sign.

"Please, please just be okay."

I reached the blossom tree, my feet skidding to a stop, although my heart couldn't do the same as my eyes darted around, stopping dead still on the blossom tree. I couldn't breathe, nor could I think, and the only sound emitting from my mouth was sobs, a waterfall of tears leaving my eyes, registering what was before me, and as soon as it did I let out an ear piercing scream, one that I'm sure no viewer right now would ever forget. I sobbed harder as my feet dragged me towards the tree in a rush, not being able to say anything as my chest heaved, looking at Mico's form hanging from the tree.

A noose around his neck, while other short ropes were wrapped tightly around his wrists, pulling his arms up to form a cross, and I grabbed onto his body, pushing it off to keep any more pressure adding onto his neck, he was still breathing. I used one hand to pull the noose from around his neck, seeing the intricate knotting and realizing it was the work of Wiley, while the ones around his wrists were the exact same.

"Ju- just stay with me Mico," I gulped hard, still sobbing uncontrollably, my heart feeling as if it were to explode any minute, "I'm getting you out of this." He didn't say anything, although the shallow laboured breaths seemed to stand out so much to my ears, his eyes barely open.

It wasn't even the worst part, what was embedding into his chest, bleeding profusely, was Patroclus's axe, standing out to my green eyes as some form of taunt. I should have known, I should have known better than to trust someone who had gotten a high mark in training, I should have known that Julian would have gotten to him before the games had even started, I should have known not to trust Mico with anyone other than myself.

The ropes came undone and Mico fell into my arms, and I dropped to me knee's, placing him on the floor softly as my hands trembled, fumbling with his jacket, my cries continuing as I thought about what I should do.

"A sponsor! I need a sponsor!"

I don't know if I was talking to Cato, or to myself, or to anyone willing to help, but I continued to beg as I cradled Mico to my chest, screaming out to anything and anyone, my heart tearing as I did so, the pain in my chest and head increasing with every waking moment. It was my fault, I had crossed Julian, I had killed his comrades, I had denied his alliance, I had accepted Patroclus, I had done all those things, and Mico was paying for all of that. He was slipping away in my very hands, and nothing I could do would stop that.

I pulled out the axe from his chest, throwing it as hard as I could, hearing the whimper come from Mico's lips, and I rested his head on my shoulders, pulling of his jacket slowly, and placing it against his chest, my desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. His eyes opened for the smallest of seconds, and a small tired smile etching its way onto his paling face, and he barely managed to push out his sentence without losing breath.

"I- I cut … him ..." His arm raised ever so slightly, showing the dagger he had kept all this time, with dried blood around it, and I didn't know whether he spoke of Julian or Patroclus, "Follow …the blood … win."

"Shh, don't talk anymore."

I held him closer as I cried, stroking his dirty hair, looking up into the trees once more and screaming out.

"Please! Someone just help! Help!"

But no help came, nothing, no parachute filled with medicine, and I knew why, they wanted this, they wanted me broken, it had to be that, it didn't matter about the hole in his chest, I had had much more worse wounds the days before, they just didn't want to help him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

I muttered it over and over again as I watched him, my tears continuing to spill, my throat feeling dry, my chest feeling empty, yet unbelievably painful at the same time, my stomach clenching, and the images of what Julian could have possibly done to him racing through my head caused me to close my eyes tightly for a brief moment. Memories of when I had first met Mico entered my mind instead, he was practically a baby, and I remembered one of the first songs I sang to him then, one I had been taught my father, my mother had sang it when she was carrying me, the very first song I ever sang to him and had lulled him to sleep.

"Hush little baby don't say a word,"

I hiccupped in between, the song sounding anything but melodic, but I found some soothing feelings through it.

"Mamma's gonna buy you a Mockingbird."

I felt Mico's head lull slightly, as he continued to draw in small breaths, his blood pouring over the jacket and all over my hands, reminding me of what had occurred before this was all down to me, everything last bit of it.

"If that Mockingbird won't sing,"

I shifted, so that his head lay closer to my chest, my hand wrapping tighter around him, praying that a sponsor would still come.

"Mamma's gonna buy you a diamond ring."

And slowly, as I went to begin the song again, the slow and small heaves of chest stopped, his eyes fully closing, and I had to shake him softly a few times, trying to rouse him awake.

"Mico, stay with me, come on kid!"

I didn't want to admit it; I didn't want to succumb to the complete fear and sadness that consumed my heart yet, but I had no other choice when the canon that announced a tributes death echoed loud and clear in the day light, my ears ringing from the sound. I pulled his body closer, screaming in anguish once again as I cried loudly, no longer caring how loud I was, if Julian and his posse were still close by, only caring of who lay dead in my arms.

His blood all over me, on my hands, and I meant that both literally and metaphorically. I screamed again, not satisfied with the last two, going louder than I ever had before, repeating it as tears fell down, soaking Mico's already bloodied shirt, I had no intention of letting him go, relinquishing my hold on him to the peacekeepers that would collect his body. I couldn't leave him here, I couldn't leave his body to them, it was beyond wrong, it was heartless. I was staying her with him, and I did just that for hours, my cries and tears never ceasing, years of the very thing behind kept at bay finally coming out, all for that one night before the arena, the night when Cato and pulled me to my senses, when he had-

I couldn't even do it, I couldn't even finish of my train of thought, and I couldn't even begin to think about that. Memories upon memories went through my mind, Mico first living with me, when he had come home with top marks in knife throwing after he had started the academy, the nights he had been sick and I would nurse him to health, and the night he first told me he loved me. All of it, so prominent and so raw in my mind, did nothing to calm me, but only made me worse, made the pain in my chest becoming excruciating, and my head feel heavier.

I hated them, I hated all of them, I hated the tributes, I hated the Capitol, I hated President Snow and his power to force this upon us every year, and most of all... I hated myself. Because there was absolutely no one else who could be as much to blame as me, no one else had forced me to make those stupid stubborn decisions, anyone else would have done a better job, anyone else would have kept Mico alive until the end, and he would have won. I was so close, so close to it all, so close to giving him the life he deserved, and my slip up had cost us dearly.

I ignored the thunderous clap in the sky above me, and the feeling of the cold air, they were making night approach quicker, along with an onslaught of rain. How fitting. It wasn't something I expected to happen, because it was never something the game makers did, but I heard the loud chopper of the hover craft over my head, seeing a pod emerge from it to cascade down, they wanted to collect him, like some sort of object.

I tried to ignore it, amongst the heavy rain and lightening, but he was physically yanked out of my arms, I had been here for too long, they had waited for too long for me to leave, I grabbed onto his body, whimpering, not ready to let go yet. But I had no choice, they wouldn't leave him with me, they had bended the rules as it was by letting him linger here for so long, and I managed to plant a kiss on his forehead before he was hoisted up, and disappeared into the hover craft, disappearing as it flew away.

And now, as I stood on my own, with his blood all over me and soaking wet, I realized just how truly real this was, just how reckless I had been, and I cried harder, wrapping my arms around myself as I stumbled away, wanting to scrub my skin raw of the blood I was covered in. my throat sore as I kept on screaming, as if I were going insane, my head still finding it difficult to wrap around the fact that he was gone, completely gone, and I was left here, in this hell on my own. Mico was mine, he always had been, it didn't matter if we weren't blood related, my love and adoration for him triumphed over that immensely, and now I had lost the only person I ever held close to my heart.

I constantly tripped through the jungle, no longer caring if I made too much sound with my crying and I was becoming hysterical, barely allowing myself to breathe through all the sobs, alerting any predators close by of where I was. At this point all the running and fighting I had gone up against with the mutations had gone to waste, and now I actually wanted one to find me, to kill me and release me from the intense pain I felt inside me.

The entire jungle was a blur to me, my legs acting on their own accord and taking me back the same way I had come, and I barely even noticed that I reached the river until I actually fell in it, spitting out the water and gulping air in, my arms floundering about as I grabbed onto the edge of the river back, my head resting on my hands as I cried more, it seemed that I couldn't stop now that I had started.

I composed myself a little, so that I could swim towards the Cornucopia, and pulling myself up, face resting in the dirt, mud sticking to my wet face and hair, no longer caring anymore, I had given up, I was a broken mess, my sobs didn't stop even though the tears had. I watched the sun slowly setting through the rain, the orange sky mixing with the grey clouds, still no sound coming from the jungle's wildlife, it almost felt as if they were mourning too. But I knew it wasn't that, it was the game makers, making sure I was reminded every moment of how alone I truly was, weapon-less and broken, and as another image of a younger Mico entered my mind, another fresh set of tears fell, and I buried my face in my hands, screaming into them, wanting the pain to stop, to go away to be replaced with any feeling but this, because this feeling was one I couldn't stand.

The soft sound of a bell awoke me from my plunder into a dark depression, my head raised slightly, seeing a silver parachute come to land beside me. A sponsor. I could have laughed at the impeccable timing, because right now was definitely the time when I had needed one, and I stared at it for so long, wondering what it would be. It couldn't be medicine, that would have practically been too cruel, and I doubted Cato would do that, but then there was nothing else, food was out of the question, I had no appetite. I wiped my face of the tears and raindrops and sat up, although it did nothing, as tears still streamed and the rain still poured, and my sobs were still loud for all of Panem to hear.

I unclipped it slowly, noticing how large it was in width, pulling it open, seeing that something was wrapping in tissue paper, protecting whatever lay inside it, I picked up the note first, wanting to see what Cato had to say to this, what he could have possibly sent me to try and ease the pain.

_Breathe. _

So simple. Something so small, yet had come to mean so much, had to mean more than just an instruction, it had become sentimental, and a motivation for me, something only Cato and I knew of, a small bond between us. I tightened my old on the note, bringing it close to my chest as I tried to calm myself, doing just what the note said, and breathing. One big deep breath and it worked a little, clearing my head and stopping the tears, although the pain was still there, still a reminder. I placed the note back in the container, pulling out the tissue paper, whatever inside was rather thin, and as I began unwrapping it was becoming clearer of Cato's aim with this sponsor.

I pulled the paper off, staring in wonder at the beautiful work before me, captivating me. Twin Sai's, long and sharp, going from my elbow to way past my wrists, and sharp, shining so wonderfully in the light, the silver so bright it could have been mistaken for diamonds. It had cost a lot of this, and I thought to myself that maybe had been saving sponsors for this very gift, knowing he would send it when I needed it. I closed my eyes as I pulled them both to my chest, breathing a soft thank you into the wind. When my eyes snapped open something completely different and knew was shown through my eyes, darkness that I had kept deep within me was unleashing, and I stood, my hands holding on tightly to my weapons.

I twisted them around in my fingers, weaving the pieces of art through my fingers asily, getting used to the feeling of what it was once like, a hunger and thirst for blood brewing inside me. What I had kept at bay for so long was now releasing, silently giving permission for it to come out, and welcoming the feeling of anger and hatred. The Capitol would get their grand finale for sure, and it wouldn't end how they would be expecting it be, this was going to be my rampage, I would make a massacre out of every single tribute left.

The Seventy Fifth Hunger Games Quarter Quell would have no winner.

* * *

**You probably hate me all … not that I blame you, this was extremely difficult to write without bursting into tears, but I knew that I would write this part up before I even thought of making it a story on FF. It was probably the easiest but hardest thing to write at the same time … if that makes sense? I won't keep you all here for long, I feel too depressed right now to ramble, and it's actually touched a nerve doing this chapter. Especially writing it while listening to Evanescence's My Immortal and Hurt by Christina Aguilera. Yeah, so I'll do replies now. **

**LoudtheThird: Thank you! And glad I have you addicted, that's exactly what I do with stories I love, I always go back and read the best parts! Thanks for reviewing my darling!**

**Dra9onf7yz:Haha yeah, she got lots and lots of sponsors! Hope you liked (well not liked because it's terrible) this chapter, and thank you for reviewing **

**Saiyanprincess711: Thank you so much my darling, your words again are always so sweet! I do just try to give you all the best description so it's easier to imagine, and the mutations are awful! My best invention in terms of creature/characters though, I was really proud of them. Thank you for the luck, I'll definitely need it! Gosh my exams are getting so close! **

**HermoineandMarcus: Thank you my dear, and I will as soon as I can! X**

**Angel2u: Thank you! I love you for loving this story! 3 :D**

**Kaleidoscope-eyes1990: So was I, she definitely deserved the sponsors after all she was put through! And ahhh sorry about the cliff hangers, I just love writing them so much! ;) and update is here! **

**C0t0rt3dM1nd: Hhaaha thank you! I thought you all deserved an action packed chapter after all the others, especially since there's no Cato! And her fight with Julian is ON THE WAY, probably will be my most favourite chapter to write!**

**Scoco: Thank you! I'm gonna need it! And yes results day will prove just how worth it it all was hopefully! And we shall see dear, I like surprises for my readers … as you probably noticed.**

**Geranium08: I was originally thinking of correcting you when I first read your review, but then I remember what I was writing and was like "Oh", BUT I still haven't fully decided the ending, so just keep reading and you might be surprised! Thank you so much for the compliments, and thank you for reviewing!**

**Scarstellstories: Ha, yeah the mutts are really nasty! And ahaha thank you for thinking it was that good! Just trying to please my readers ^_^ and thanks for the luck! Hope this chapter was good!**

**h-ellopikachu: Really? Yaaay, I was hoping to get that reaction, and thank you so much for the compliments, it honestly means so much :D Thank you for reviewing as well my dear!**

**AlexShah: Yup a whole pack, if that were me I would have just given up and let them take me haha, and yeah Cato was probably smacking his head against a wall! **

**Nelle07: Thank you so much my love, and aha I spent a lot of time thinking about those notes! Thanks for reviewing lovely and hope you liked this chapter!**

**AlwaysAMarauder16: Haha yeah I think that's how it's spelt, oh well she still gave me the creeps! And you wouldn't believe it but that night I actually did have nightmares about giant spiders, I'm scaring myself! And yeah she's definitely had a rough couple of days, and it's only gotten worse! And urgh, a levels are just so … blergh! It's ruined my life! And good luck with yours, hope they go well!**

**Justapersonwithapony: Yeah I was tense myself writing that chapter! And Patroclus really did contradict his own name don't you think? Being a traitor instead of loyal, which was what Patroclus originally was in the story of Achilles … andddddd this just got a whole lot more dangerous, hope you enjoyed this chapter **

**WhiteDaisyDune: THANK YOU SO MUCH! That's so lovely of you :D and that is so flattering honestly, hope you like the rest of the chapters to come! **

**Wearethelight: Haha don't worry about it, seriously I'VE BEEN THERE! And thank you, I kept getting paranoid that he wasn't, and yep but he still doesn't seem to realize just how much. And yup, although I find R.E easily, it's drama and English that are a killer, I love Lit but the amount of quotes I have to remember will destroy my braincells, and for Drama A2 was SOOOO boring, it was mostly written work this year, and in the exam you have to write about rehearsal techniques, how you would direct a play, and the performance conditions of Shakespearean theatre! BORING! But I do love Drama … ANYWAY sorry for rambling, I've heard History is like essay exams, like LONG ones, so good luck with that and the rest of your exams! I'm sure you'll do well! **

**Mel: Thank you so much, hope you stick around for the other chapters and thanks for reviewing! **

**Onlygirl16: Awww thank you, hope you liked this one and the ones to come! **


	18. Nothing

"_How Can You See Into My Eyes Like Open Doors? Leading You Down Into My Core Where I've Become So Numb Without A Soul, My Spirit Sleeping Somewhere Cold Until You Find It There And Lead It Back Home. Call My Name And Save Me From The Dark, Bid My Blood To Run Before I Come Undone, Save Me From The Nothing I've Become." – Evanescence; Bring Me To Life._

* * *

"It's not your fault."

Finnick may have come across as an idiotic flirt, but when it came to The Games he was quite the contrary, and he knew how difficult it could be for a first timer, especially as Cato watched Faith Willows become hysterical at the death of her comrade. No one in Panem could deny that it had hit a nerve, seeing a child die in the arms of someone they loved, and it was even more difficult to watch said person slowly become insane at what they had witnessed.

Only Finnick knew that this would arise more excitement for The Capitol people, their momentary sadness for the boy from Two would disappear and become overshadowed with their happiness to see the bloodbath of a finale that was sure to happen now that Faith was looking at her new gift. Cato hadn't said a word, not since he had seen the boy from Seven attack the child and join with the Careers, he should have known really, Julian was a smart boy, there was no doubt that he would recruit every strong tribute for his own needs. The boy from Seven was clearly his secret weapon, he hadn't told a single soul about it, he hadn't even mentioned it in the Games until he had joined up with Seven, he clearly wanted to make sure Cato would not be able to warn his tributes.

It was disturbing to watch, but Finnick understood Julian's actions, he wanted to win and go home just as much as every other tribute did; only his desires were clouded by his blood thirst. Ultimately it was more than clear to him that he was scared, scared of not winning and scared of Faith Willows, he couldn't decide an opinion on the girl, she was very confusing, terrifying when she wanted to be, yet still showed signs of just being a teenager. Finnick could see how much this probably drove Cato to the brink of insanity, she didn't exactly look like the co-operative type, yet no matter the fact of how insanely stubborn she may seem, Cato appeared to have a very large soft spot for her.

The boy would never admit to himself, least of all Finnick, but he wasn't an idiot, he could see the tension in his shoulders whenever Faith found herself in trouble, and he saw how Cato breathed a sigh of relief every time she escaped death. And right now he was looking at how Cato gripped the back of his chair, hunched over it with his eyes glued to the screen, his eyes steely and jaw clenched; he knew how hard it must have been to watch someone he cared for suffer.

Finnick didn't expect Cato to reply to his statement, for they had gone several minutes without speaking, simply watching the screen of Faith put the Sai's in her belt, making her way back to the river bank, no one knowing what kind of plan she was forming in her head.

"How is this okay Finnick? How can we all watch this every year and be okay with it?"

Finnick sighed, his blue eyes moving to the floor briefly, before looking back up to Cato, whose dark blue orbs glared at the screen, looking as if he hadn't even blinked for fear of missing something.

"It's not. But it's the way it goes, and it's the way we have to deal with it."

Cato didn't reply, not that there was much he could say to that, he asked a question he already knew the answer to, but knowing that didn't settle the growing anger he felt inside of him. To who or what his anger was directed towards was still unknown to him, whether it be Snow, or The Capitol, or the complete snake that was Julian from Four, or simply because Faith had been stupid enough to allow Seven to ally with her in the first place … or maybe, just maybe, at himself for being able to do absolutely nothing but stand here and watch, the best he could offer was sponsors.

It was pitch black darkness as Faith slowly walked through the forest, and the gracefulness of her strides sent a form of fear through Cato. Only minutes prior was she utterly destroyed, every piece of her that she had built through her years having no one but Mico had been taken down in one move, yet now with her wet red hair that fell loosely around her shoulders, she walked almost sinisterly, she was without a doubt seeking blood. A lot of it.

He had to wonder if this was it, if she had now truly gone insane, for the Faith he had grown to know would never have behaved like this; she walked with a purpose that was so dark, so dangerous, far beyond anything he had ever seen. He watched her walk through the forest, as if she were looking for something, and only stopped at certain times to listen to the sounds of the jungle, and it only took Cato a few more seconds to realize she was listening out for the mutations. Walking in the direction of their growls, almost making him yell towards the screen, she was behaving completely suicidal right now.

Cato bit down on his lip hard as he saw her slowly become closer to the pack of the mutations, ready to turn away once they would start attacking her. Faith's usually bright green eyes were portraying a look of complete hatred, and only now did he notice how dark hey look, as if she were no longer there, a completely different person taking control. She visibly grit her teeth, baring them as her eyes soon connected to the first mutation, and by far the largest, smaller ones following it to complete a pack of seven.

It took Cato completely off guard, for he had expected a different scene to play out before him just now, one that consisted of Faiths blood spluttering everywhere, but instead she turned sharply and began sprinting; in the direction of the second arena. The mutations roared, their pure white eyeballs turning into slits as they began to run on all fours after her, saliva dripping from their unnaturally large jaws, and just this once he allowed himself to be thankful for not being at the mercy of those creatures.

She ran at an unnaturally fast speed, her breathing kept at an even pace, not once looking back to the creatures behind her, keeping the same speed the entire way through the arena, as if her body was built for such activities. The mutations never got too close, and only managed to push themselves to get at least a metre or two behind her, it seemed that even creatures as advanced as them were struggling to keep up, and Finnick's mouth was slightly agape as he watched Faith run, Cato's eyes only narrowing more as he wondered what else she could possibly have up her sleeve, praying that she accomplished whatever task she was aiming to achieve.

A run that should have taken an hour or so, was only minutes at the speed that Faith was going at, and she didn't stop or slow down as she reached the cliff edge, jumping as she reached the edge, landing on the bridge only to stagger for the briefest of moment; a perfect landing.

"Now _that_ is not normal."

Even in times that were completely serious, Odaire still managed to lighten the mood, although at times he didn't seem to be trying to. His voice held a slight tone of disbelief as Faith continued to run across one of the metal bridges, her footsteps echoing across the arena as it hit the metal floor, only it didn't seem to disturb any life. The mutations had fallen behind considerably, yet still managed to keep on following her, and that was probably due to their excellent sense of smell.

"What are doing Faith?"

Cato whispered his question, completely dumbfounded by her plan, only knowing that it would be completely stupid and reckless, resulting in his constant worry for her well being. He hated to admit it, but he was now glad Faith had a chance to come home, the pain of watching someone he cared about die could only be compared to when Clove had died in his own arms, but out of Mico's death came the hope that maybe Faith could live; that's if she didn't screw it up.

He had been saving the sponsor on her Sai's, he knew there would come a time for when she would really need them, and he knew that would be in the finale of the Games, he just didn't know what she'd lose in order for her to need them. She frustrated him beyond belief, performing one stupid act after another, only to escape with her life by fighting to the fullest, and even with severe injuries she still managed to live. He'd only wished she would find Seven first, for he would gladly admit to enjoying watching the pathetic cretin die, and if the dark look on Faith's face was anything to go by, she was going to make sure it was as painful as possible.

It all came so abruptly, hell even Cato hadn't seen it coming and there were camera's everywhere in that arena, but the large silver axe that came flying towards Faith's head only just missed her, slicing at the side of her face and causing her to fall backwards. Getting over her small feeling of shock she stood quickly, only to go crashing down once more as the hard faced Seven crashed into her, their entangled forms rolling over and off towards the edge of the bridges railings. Faith quickly rolled them over, sitting on his back, his head dangling off the edge, his teeth gritted angrily at their current position.

"Nice try _Patroclus_."

One of Faith's hands grabbed onto his hair, pulling it back to viciously whisper in his ears, and the only response she got was a dark chuckle, and by the clenching of her jaw Cato knew Seven would probably regret it, no one could possibly know the extent of what Faith would do to those who had hurt Mico. She pulled his head up further from the ground, knowing that it would probably pain his neck, her lips never leaving Seven's ear as she whispered menacingly.

"Hear that?" A chorus of howls echoed in the distance, indicating that the mutations were inching closer, "they sound hungry, and they're gonna have a hell of a nice meal tonight."

Seven's mouth opened as if he were to scream for help, only Faith seemed to be two steps ahead of him and clamped his mouth shut, speaking through gritted teeth as her anger rose, and Cato could do nothing but watch the screen intently, it was a side he had never seen to her.

"Please don't try screaming for help. You don't deserve the luxury of that," a crack in her hard exterior came through for the briefest of moments as her gaze settled into the foggy distance of the arena, "I'm going to enjoy this, just like you enjoyed killing _him_."

Without a seconds hesitation she had let his head drop back to the floor, her hand grabbing one of her Sai's and cutting out Seven's tongue in one swift motion, so quickly and coldly that the viewers of Panem couldn't help but visibly cringe, jaws open at what she had just done. Her hand cover Seven's mouth once more to stop him from attempting to yell in agony, his blood spilling over her hand and through her fingers, and a sickening smirk etched it's way onto her pale face.

She tucked the Sai back into her belt, pulling on Seven's arms and behind his back, twisting his wrists unnaturally, eventually hearing a snap in both and another muffled yell of pain from the boy. Both Cato and Finnick simultaneously looked away, theirs shutting tightly as memories of their own kills filtered through their minds, disturbed by the cold blooded kill about to take place on the screens, only Cato whipped his head back around after a few moments, finding it impossible to keep his eyes off of Faith for too long.

As she saw the mutations growls became louder in the distance, she held on tightly to Seven's hair and continued to smack his head against the metal floor several times, yells of anger coming out of her mouth as she became carried away, all the aguish and anger she felt seeping out. Eventually stopping when a fountain of blood seeped down Seven's head, and his eyes only blinking a few times as they went in and out of focus, he was losing consciousness, and as the mutations came into view both Faith only had a couple of seconds to push herself up onto her feet and continue sprint.

She didn't even seem to year the gurgled and blood curdling screams of the boy from Seven, only running continuously until the bridge holding the Cornucopia came into view, and with it a smug looking blonde from One stood at the mouth of it. Faith stopping, taking hold on her Sai's firmly and glaring at the blonde, a good distance between them, and the thick and long looking rope was held tightly in the blondes' hands.

"Those things are only useful from a distance; if your girl gets within a close range with her, rope isn't gonna do shit."

Cato nodded in agreement to Finnick's statement, no amount of words able to explain his anxiety at that current time. She was close; so close, if she got rid of the blonde then only Julian stood in her way, and if she kept refrained from letting her judgment be clouded by Julian, than she could come home; she could come back to him.

"Julian!"

It was Faith who yelled out his name so firmly, so angrily and filled with complete and utter hatred. It only made the blonde girls eyes narrow considerably, not liking that Faith had written her off before their battle had even begun. This red head had killed her brother, and let him be eaten in the most painful way, if she thought she could completely skip her and think she was no competition, and then she had another thing coming.

"Oh, don't worry Two. He's coming."

Faith didn't bother responding to her, only crouching into a battle stance, the Sai's twisting slowly in her hands, taunting her opponent, daring her to make the first move, and she did exactly that. Wiley twisted the rope in her hand, and it wrapped around her beck for a moment before she pulled it back and had it flying towards at such a speed that Faith ducked quickly, and stumbled a little as her head just missed it, only she didn't anticipate that it would be coming back the same way, and as she raised her head the rope wrapped around her quickly. Wiley pulled on the rope, jerking Faith forward and causing her to momentarily lose her footing.

It only took her another second to plant her feet firmly in the ground, her occupied hands had no choice but to loosely hold onto the rope that was now choking her, and pulling her towards Wiley.

"C'mon Faith." Cato's voice sounded exasperated, his knuckles turning white as his stomach tied into knots, completely anxious at the scene unfolding before him.

Faith tugged hard on the rope, catching Wiley off guard and losing her footing, she stumbled forward, yet all it managed to do was anger the blonde more than she already had been, a yell of frustration leaving her as she pulled harder than she had before. The ropes hold around Faith's neck tightened, cutting off her air supply, making her squirm slightly as she attempted to pull on the rope once more, but it did nothing to sway the girl from One.

"This is for my broth-"

She hadn't gotten to finishing her sentence, as on quick thinking for fear of choking to death Faith had thrown one of her Sai's, landing perfectly and directly into Wiley's shoulder, her hands letting go of the rope to shield her shoulder, yelling out in pain at it.

Unwrapping the now lose rope from her neck she charged full force into Wiley, swinging her fist over to deliver a solid punch into her cheek, only swing the other fist and punch her square in the face. Blocking one of Wiley's attempts to hit her, she fell to the floor and swiped her leg from under the blonde tribute, causing her to floor and land harshly on the metal. Grabbing the ponytail that her blonde hair was in, Faith dragged Wiley from across the floor and up onto her knee's, she pulled out the Sai forcefully, ignoring the groan of pain, the blonde now disorientated from the blows she had taken.

"You're angry that I killed your brother, I get that." Faith tugged on the pony tail harder, bringing the Sai to rest forcefully against Wiley's neck, "But tell me … what you expected to happen when you were both down to the final two?", Wiley didn't respond, her jaw was set and her green eyes held fire, intending to be defiant until her last breath.

"You don't even know yourself."

The redhead whispered her words, speaking more to her self than to the tribute from One, answering a question she was in fact curious to know, the brief moment of her features softening had disappeared quickly, only for a moment understanding the probable pain Wiley must have felt upon finding her brother dead.

"Did you like what I did with your boy's rope? Pretty wasn't it?"

Mentioning the death of her partner was like taboo, and Faith visibly clenched her teeth as she tried ignore the pain of what had happened merely hours ago. The Sai pressed against Wiley's neck began to draw blood slowly, and as the blonde began to chuckle sinisterly, mocking Faith and behaving as if nothing caused her no pain.

What occurred next truly did disgust Cato, not believing that someone could truly be brought to this point, their sanity completely breaking and losing all humanity. The Sai once pressed against Wiley's neck was now in the process of gorging both her eyes out, the struggle and screams of fear and pain echoed through the arena and loudly through every single television set, people watching in complete horror. It was repulsive, seeing another human being do that to another, but it only made you realise there was no room for humanity anymore when you entered that arena, that from the moment you were picked you became a monster.

Faith stood as Wiley flailed about, screaming in pain and yelling out profanities towards her as she crawled around for something, kicking the scrounging girl in the head she walked away, knowing that the mutations would soon find the now blind girl and feast on her flesh.

"Julian!"

Faith's tone was louder, her nostrils flaring as her anger rose, and continued to loudly scream his name, waiting for him to appear, and finally do what she had planned to from the moment she had received her Sai's.

"Wow, didn't think she had it in her."

Finnick's reply to his statement was a large fist smashing onto the desk, Cato's anger finally getting the better of him, he didn't know who or what he was angry at, or whether he were angry at all, his emotions were going haywire, he couldn't possibly be expected to sit through this all and not be affected.

"This is gonna get ugly, real ugly."

Finnick turned, leaving Cato's viewing room to sit in his own, to watch and keep tabs on his own tribute as the battle of the year would take place in a matter of minutes, his hand ready to press on that sponsor button if need be.

Cato ran his hands through his messy hair, the insomnia and anxiousness in his stomach never faltering for the entire time these games had started, he was like to get more than four hours of sleep at times, he just couldn't seem to relax, more on edge than any other mentor had been. He tried to tell himself that it was simply because this was his first time, that the first year of mentoring was always the hardest because you weren't used to making ties with people and that tie break within a week, well that's what Finnick had told him the first time Faith had fought Wiley, but it had gone way beyond that by now.

He needed to take his own advice, he needed to breathe, it seemed to work for Faith every time she was in a hard place, and he had to admit every time she did take his advice a spark of warmth soared through his chest and to the pits of his stomach. They had created some connection between even through a Television screen, one he knew that couldn't be broken by either of them, making him more than desperate for her to live now, to get through this one last hurdle and come out with some piece of her still intact, the piece that Cato loved to irritate.

She would be different if she made it out, he knew that much, but the extent to how much she may have changed was only becoming clear now, and she may not even remember who she once was. The overly stubborn and prideful girl she once was, bent on pissing off the Capitol in anyway she could find, sneering at him whenever he made a comment on the colour of her hair. That was the girl he hadn't seen a long time since the beginning of the games, and he feared that maybe that girl was completely gone.

Faith's yells were soon answered, Julian appearing on the opposite side of the bridge, surveying all around him, eyes narrowing as he saw the scurrying Wiley on the floor, blood everywhere as she continued to scream. A dark smile adorned his face, his eyes zoning into Faith's green ones, as if two predators were eyeing each other up, both claiming to be the dominating one. Faith took steps back, briefly looking to the bridges below as she continued backwards.

"Come and get me Four."

She jumped over the railing, landing on the bridge just below, and repeated her actions another two levels down, until she saw the river below, and heard the heavy footing of Julian landing on the bridge just above her. Their eyes connected for one moment as he looked over the railing, and Faith proceeded to jump again, her body falling and crashing into the water below her. The current was a lot faster than that of the one in the jungle, and pulled at her, dragging her body down the river, she didn't fight it, and let it take her further into the arena, not looking for Julian as she was more than sure he was following.

She probably figured out the river would end somewhere, in the form of a lake or shore, and Cato guessed that there was where she wanted to end this. The mist cleared slightly, the working of the game makers as they most likely wanted to viewers of Panem to see just how much distance there was between Faith and Julian, and as the camera zoned out it seemed to be quite far, apparently Julian was more hesitant in jumping in the river than Faith had been.

Not that Cato blamed him, you could never be sure on what the game makers could have put in the river, a lot of creatures lurked in those things, but the game makers wouldn't allow the two remaining tributes to be eaten by water beasts; that would be labelled as anti-climatic.

Sure enough the river began to thin out, and Faith slowly began to be able to stand, walking through the now shallow river as it reached the end of the arena, the shore was encased inside large canyons than surrounded it, rather dark through all the must that covered it. The shore was filled with wet sand and pebbles, rocks scattered in different places, Faith sat up against one, breathing heavily as she awaited her last opponent.

She stood as soon as she heard the sounds of boots splashing against water, taking both Sai's in her hands and holding them tightly, her face firm and jaw set, and just like always Cato had no idea as to what was going through her mind. His heart raced as both tributes eyes connected to one another, standing many meters away from him, both their hairs stuck to their faces with water and sweat, their weapons held in a tight grip, awaiting one to make the first move.

"He called for you, you know? Kept cryin' and cryin' your name like some baby… and you didn't come."

Julian's tone was taunting, his grin never leaving his face as he stood there, his silver trident glistening with drops of water, reminding Cato of the Greek God Faith had once told him about; the god of the sea's Poseidon.

"Can you imagine that? A twelve year old screaming for help, and help never coming-"

"Shut up!"

He chuckled at Faith's outburst, satisfied with creating a dent in her hard armour, watching as her hands visibly shook slightly, pushing her with more images of her friends death, how he had cried continuously until they had tied him to the tree, how he had screamed out in agony when Patroclus had plunged his old axe into his torso.

Her anger getting the better of her, consumed with aguish and hatred, she charged straight towards Julian, her Sai's held out in front of her tightly, ready to connect with his large trident. He smirked, raising his trident, aiming it right into her torso, and her Sai's quickly colliding with the fork of it, protecting her from the tips piercing her chest. She pushed him back with force, twisting one of the Sai's in her hands to jab at his thigh, slicing him successfully, only to have the butt of his trident smash into her face, and propelled her backwards.

Her nose began to bleed, and whipping it with the back of her wrist quickly she charge at him once more, ducking under a swipe of the trident to try stabbing him in the shoulder. Julian was quick with his reflex's, and grabbed onto her wrist quickly, intercepting her blow, and head butting her, causing her to stagger backwards and take a punch from him.

She fell into the water, gritting her teeth in pain as she tried to ignore the black dots in her vision, her skin feeling numb against the cold water.

"Come _on_ Faith, concentrate."

Cato wished there was some way to communicate to tributes other than a pathetic note with a parachuted sponsor, anything just so she could hear his words right now.

Julian stretched his neck, hearing cracks as he lifted his trident, ready to skewer the red head. The pink scar now forming on his neck was clear as day, due to Mico slashing him before with his dagger, something Julian had found rather humiliating at the fact a twelve year old had managed to injure him quite severely.

Faith took one deep breath, and Cato knew she had just once again thought of that one word he had muttered to her only weeks ago, which now felt like years. And she lifted her legs forward to jump up, crouching as she lifted one leg to kick him in the abdomen, and as he hunched over she kicked him once more, her leg extending high into his face and making him fly backwards. He pulled himself up quickly, missing the Sai she had thrown at his face by millimetres, which he was sure was intended to impale him through the eye.

As he began to stand up from his kneeling position he tried to anticipate the force Faith would attempt to put through the punch she was intending to deliver as she now charge at him. Only he should have know what kind of strength she was capable of, the knife she impaled through the arm and into the metal bridge of the boy from One, and as he raised his hand to grab said fist, he didn't expect it to knock him off balance and send them both crashing to the floor.

The trident fell out of his reach, and still firmly holding her fist, he used his fore arm to block her attacks with her Sai, clamping his mouth shout as he refused to yell out in pain at her continuous stabs into his arm. With the hand that held onto her closed fist he jabbed it into her eye, and her hesitance cost her as he forcefully pushed her off his body, rolling away from him. He stood up fast than she did, grabbing his trident in time and knocking her only remaining Sai out of her hand, swinging his trident around and impaling her through the stomach, pushing them both into the jagged wall.

He chuckled, revelling in her yell of pain at his injury to her, and continued to push deeper, making sure the tips of his trident pushed its way to the other side of her body, there was no way she could survive this blow.

Cato's breath hitched in his throat as the scene unfolded before him, his eyes widening in horror as he thought of what this meant. This was it, this was the end, it was sure to be over now; she had lost.

"You put up a hell of a good fight, I'll give you that Two," He paused as she coughed up blood, his face close up against hers; whispering into her ear, dry chapped lips grazing her skin.

"But it was always gonna be me, I was always gonna be the best and favourite to win."

He chuckled once more, a feeling of pride and relief washing over him as he felt the warmth in her body slowly fade away, knowing she would die soon, in a matter of minutes, and the booming voice of Claudius Templesmith would name him as the winner of the Seventy Fifth Quarter Quell Annual Hunger Games.

"No.." He was snapped out of his small day dream of victory, drawing his head back a little to look into the dimming eyes of his opponent, her voice faint with exhaustion, "You're just another toy to them … and we're both … gonna die down here."

His eyes furrowed in confusion, opening his mouth to comment on her ridiculous statement, only his words were stopped short. A dagger plunged directly into his neck, and pulled out to slash across his neck one more time. Blood gurgled from his mouth, and he coughed slightly, the blood splattering across Faith's pale face. He let go of the trident, one hand grabbing his open neck, staggering backwards, and falling into the water, shock still written across his face at the fact his guard had been let down, on how he had spoken too soon.

With as much strength as she could muster, Faith began to pull the trident out of her stomach, screaming in excruciating pain as more blood poured from the wound. The trident fell to the floor in a loud clatter, the entire arena silent, as well as every viewer of Panem. She held Mico's dagger tightly in her hand, all this time she had kept it hidden, beneath her top, ready if she ever needed it.

She half jogged towards Julian's body, falling beside him and plunging the dagger into his chest, ripping it out to do it again, and again, and again and again, and again. Moving to pierce it through his skull, repeating her actions again and completely mutilating his form, and with what strength she had left of her she fell back into the water, crawling slightly away from his body, covered in both their bloods, feeling her heart beat slow down.

"Get her out of there! Get her out of there now!"

Cato yelled through the telecom to the game makers, who sat in their own viewing room where they controlled everything that occurred in the arena, yet they did nothing, and from the fact Julian's canon still hadn't gone off, it was a matter of who died first, making him think of the insane similarities of how he had won his games, only Faith was much smarter in how she took Julian's life, she had planned to be skewered by his trident; she wanted to die.

Screw that, there was no way in hell he was losing her now, especially now that she had practically won, the crown was hers and now she was expected to come home. Her eyes closed, and the small traces of a smile took over her face, as if she were ready to let death claim her now.

And when a canon finally went of signalling the death of a tribute, he didn't know whether it was for Julian or Faith, he could only wait for Claudius to announce the winner, and when he did, his heart literally stopped.

* * *

**Wow, that chapter is eleven pages long! My longest chapter EVER! Anyway yeah, this was it … the end of the hunger games. Originally I had intended this chapter to be written in Faith's point of view, but since people wanted another chapter in Cato's point of view I did it this way … plus I think it worked better this way, seeing Cato's thoughts on anything (and some of Finnick's) while you got to see just how dark Faith had become, what she was actually capable of if pushed to it!**

**Anyway, another chapter will be up next week … after my second exam! Few! I've already had one, so three more to go! I HATE A LEVELS AND EXAMS! Why couldn't I just join a college and do a BTech? Yeah, anyway my point was that an update next week! Hope you all liked this one!**

**Replies: **

**Alwaysamarauder16: It was such a depressing chapter to write, but I knew from the beginning of the story where I was going with every character! But still I'm sorry! And thank you, I love that it's your favourite chapter! And aha sorry for that, they're not the nicest of all creatures :P And good luck on your exams!**

**Maygenlynn: I'M SORRYY! And we shall see, thank you for liking it! Hope you liked this one too!**

**Angel2u: Truly, I am sorry it's upset you so much! But it had to be done, sometimes some of the most awesome characters are killed for the sake of the plot! **

**Justapersonwithapony: Ahhhh I know, it was so difficult to write though! And yes the twin sai's finally came, ready for her to kick some ass, and I would be too! Especially since she was so ANGRY! Hope you liked this chapter and that it lived up to the hype I built over it! And thank you, I think that was my favourite over all the sentences I wrote throughout the story!**

**Tori.m: Was it really that shocking? I thought a lot of the readers had already seen it coming? And trust me it wasn't easy to do, in fact I cried myself writing it! **

**Dra9onf7yz: I know!: ( and yes so was I, I was looking forward to writing these two chapters since the beginning of the story! And hope you liked this chapter!**

**Hazu23: Really? Same here! They're something so cool about them! And thanks hope you liked this one! **

**Lou The Third: I'll admit I did kill him off in a rather sadistic way, but I wanted to show just how brutal things can get, how animalistic and primitive they become in the games! And I'm sorry for ruining it, I didn't intend to dampen anyones moods I swear!**

**Nelle07: It's okay, I did too! And trust me she really did! Thanks for reviewing!**

**RaynacchSilverMoon: Looool I'm sorryyy! But thank you for thinking so, yeah it really was I'll admit it, but I thought it was sorta needed, to show just how horrible things can get in there! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Geranium08: I'm sorry if it upset you so much, and your wish was granted, I did this all his POV… well third person but it was through his mind … that doesn't make sense but yeh LOL Thank you for reading and reviewing and hope you liked this chapter! **

**HermoineandMarcus: Thank you! I will, don't worry!**

**AlexShah: Ahhh, it was horrible, though I did have it planned from the beginning! And hope you liked this chapter, thanks for reviewing!**

**Bbymojo: It still hurt damn it, even though I knew I was writing it! Hope you liked this chapter, so many of you requested it in Cato's POV so I had to! Ha, thanks for reviewing! **

**SingInTheRain: Thank you so much! Truly, and oh my really? That is so lovely of you to say, though I don't agree! Suzanne Collins work on Katniss and Peeta was monumental, but thank you for saying that never the less because it honestly does mean SO MUCH to me! And Rue's Farwell? Really? That song is so amazing, I cried loads to rue's death in the book! And haha they all died quite brutally, I really went a bit far with their deaths aha! Hope you liked this chapter my love, and thank you so much for your lovely review!**

**WhiteDaisyJune: Thank you so much, honestly it's lovely of you to say! And the amount of times I've cried in front of my mum while reading a sotry is embarrassing, she just laughs at me! Thanks for reviewing, it does mean a lot when you all do! **

**C0nt0rt3dM1nd: Sorry! Can't do that I'm afraid and thank you, it definitely it a sore spot while writing! And yes the sai's definitely came in handy, and don't worry … they REALLY did! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Saiyanprincess711: They all played a part in them killing him, though if I had to directly blame someone it would probably be Patroclus, and don't worry I'm just happy you reviewed! Thank you so much! **

**Zunzun14: Hhaha I'm thinking about it, though it would probably be a part time thing as finding inspiration for a completely original story is rather difficult! And thank you, sorry if it upset you too much! LOOL I shall I shall, thank you for the review!**

**Kiralol101: Don't worry about it, it's fine I can understand that you all have other priorities sometimes! Ahhh yesh everything was happy for a little while, giving Faith some peace of mind even for an hour or so.. and sorry but Mico's death had to be done! Ahh she really did go a little crazy after he died, she did completely lose her sanity from the moment he took his last breath, hope I showed that well in both chapters! And prom weekend? Ahhh I remember my prom, brings back so many good memories! Hahha, though it brought a nasty hang over the next day! Hope you enjoyed it my dear ^_^ **

**Scoco: It was ultimately Patroclus, but all three Careers took a part in killing him, and it was Julian's plan. And thank you for liking the end, though she does go a little crazy/scary … I made her quite brutal in this chapter! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Kalei-lei: Wow, thank you for giving me one then! Glad you did, and that you think this story is that good, so THANK YOU! And as it so happens inspiration HAS hit, I think I'll start writing my first completely original fic in the summer, so if it ever gets published, look out for it ;) Thank you for your unbelievably kind words, it's so lovely of you to like my story that much, it means so much I swear! Hope you liked this chapter, and that you stick around for all the others to come! **

**Jessaniah: Aha it's okay I still understood what you were saying, and your WELCOME! Trust me, I love Cato very very very much! Hhaha, I felt bad that she only had one kiss with him, but yes I was teasing you all with that one ,... and plot bunnies seriously attacked me with this story, it became so much bigger than what I had originally planned! And thank you! Glad you liked the chapter and thanks for reviewing!**

**Wearethelight: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you so much! And aha the games began indeed, I hope I didn't make this chapter anticlimactic though, I worked on it for SUCH a long time! Thanks for reviewing again darling! :D **

**Zw2683: Thank you! And I will!**

**UnseenWonders: Thank you so much! And glad you like it, who may I ask is this wonderful friend that recommended the story? And Awww thank you, I'm so happy to have another reader who enjoys it so much! Hope you liked the official ending of the games, and that you likd this chapter!**

**BreeBree12345: I'm sorry for making you so upset! And thank you for thinking so, I worked quite a while on both these chapters! And Patroclus was a sneaky piece of work! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Vix04: I stopped so I could revise for exams my darling! Updates wont be as frequent for a few weeks! And thank you so much, hope you liked this chapter! **


	19. Empty

"_I Cry In The Middle Of The Night For The Same Damn Thing, Because Of You I Don't Know How To Let Anyone Else In, Because Of You I'm Ashamed Of My Life Because It's Empty, Because Of You I Am Afraid." – Kelly Clarkson; Because Of You._

* * *

It's a strange thing, waking up and not knowing where you are, or what is going on, but it's even stranger how quickly your memories can flood and fill your head, and it was strange how a human could feel several emotions at once. Anger, hurt, fear, all consumed me when I lay in that hospital bed, a medical facility underground of the arena. Lets just say I was exactly pleased with what I had woken up to, the black eye on the doctors face was proof of that, he didn't try sedating me again after that.

I had calmed down soon enough, and when the hostile feelings within me had slowly begun to disappear, an empty feeling took over, making my chest feel hollow, my head and face a complete blank. I wasn't oblivious, I knew what was happening, I was sinking into a deep depression, closing myself off and building walls around whatever pieces of my heart were left.

I welcomed the feeling of darkness, plunging into it with a sense of clarity, consuming me until my eyes were no longer the bright green they were, but two empty windows to my non-existent soul. It was as if I were numb, blocking the outside world in some way, seeing and hearing everything around me, but I wasn't actually listening, or looking, my body was vacant of any conscience I once had when surrounded by people.

I sat in the same room as when I had been prepped for the Chariot Rides and interviews, only I didn't feel the sense of familiarity I should have, instead the nothingness I had quickly learned to use replaced it. My hair was done into an elegant bun, strands loose at the side of my face, maybe a long time ago I would have found it pretty, only I stared into the mirror blankly, Karina standing quietly, looking attentive as she expected some form of a reaction from me.

The triplets had once again done my make up the exact same as they had with my two previous events, barely noticing my lack of input, gushing on how they wanted me to win from the beginning, explaining how grand the parties would be for me. They went a lot lighter this time on the eyeliner, only doing it at the top, and my lashes were a lot smaller, giving my cheeks the softest of tints. Maybe they were trying to give me some sort of angelic look, which was a failed attempt, after the stunts I had pulled with the Careers in the last hours of the Games I was anything but that.

The triplets all stood behind me ruffling out the ends of my dress, pure white, long sleeved with a collar, and gave a plunging neckline, a gold belt that was shaped as some sort of leaf branch was placed just below my chest, as if it held the dress together, hundreds of little leaves consumed the belt; I couldn't even remember what they represented. The dress was a material of silk, flowing way past my feet and onto the ground, the back of it leaving a trail.

"What do you think Faith?"

Like I had said before, I heard things, but never really listened, or looked for that matter, so I didn't notice the huff that one of the triplets melodramatically conveyed as I didn't reply. My breathing was shallow, soft, relaxed of some sorts, something I hadn't been able to do since I had volunteered, not that I expected to ever again, after all I hadn't been expecting to come out. There it was again, that strange sharp jolt in my chest every time I thought of Mico; I couldn't decipher what it exactly was, pain? Anger? Or maybe just an illusion, a trick of the mind as I thought of him, because that's what your supposed to feel right? When you lose a loved one, you're supposed to feel something, a lot of things actually, it was the norm.

"What is _wrong _with her? She's won for goodness sake!"

"She watched the child she cared for die in her arms you idiot! What is there for her to be happy about?"

Once upon a time I would have felt shocked at Gold's out burst, even more so at one that made so much more sense, maybe even pride at her for not being as idiotic as these triplets. She looked morbid, and one thing I noticed was that it wasn't a good look for her, the usually smiling face of the bleach blonde woman was what made her look wonderful, a long with her sparkling silver gowns, at least that was one thing that hadn't changed in the time I had been gone.

She ushered all three triplets out of the room, following them with an irritated look on her face, giving Karina one swift nod before leaving. A silence once again engulfed the room, it seemed to happen a lot since I had woken up this after the events of the Games, apparently out for more than a week, although I wished I never did wake up, I would have been content with that, waking up to a world were Mico no longer existed was a difficult one to imagine.

Small and perfectly manicured hands rested on my shoulder, and as I looked into the mirror the reflection of my eyes caught onto Karina's, once again returning to the look of rainbow fashion, a skin tight dress extending all the way down to her knees, and her blonde hair tinted with the colours of the rainbow. She was young, extremely young, something I hadn't taken the time to notice before, only a little older than me maybe, but two years or so, so young and pulled into this at such a young age, much like the tributes were, only she seemed to want to be apart of this.

Her face was kept passive, yet her eyes gleamed with sadness, sympathy that I did not want, because it couldn't do anything, it couldn't rewind time and tweak history; so there was no point to it.

"Faith I know you're in there … and I cannot begin to imagine what you're feeling, but remember who you are, remember what you stood for, remember why Mico admired you so much … and come out."

She kissed my cheek, whispering of how my interview would be in thirty minutes, meaning I could wait in her until then, and turned to leave the room, waiting by the door. Drew stood in the corner of the room, quite as ever, and usually I wouldn't have really noticed the look of concentration on his face, it was one he wore all the time, only for the first time since waking up I was taken off guard, he walked towards me, slowly, coming to stand in front of me and blocking my view of the mirror.

"You know why they call you 'Faith of Troy', right?"

"You spoke."

Drew smiled, a genuine one, but it didn't seem to be over my unintentional joke, more of the fact that those were probably my first words. But I was sick of that nickname; it was something The Capitol did every year with tributes, labelling them, as if it were some TV show about fictional superheroes that saved the world and did a whole lot of good.

"At first it was just a name because of your outfit, but in those Games you lived up to it … Troy was meant to be indestructible, through all the wars it never fell."

"The Trojans lost to the Spartans."

If I were anyone else in this room I would have cringed at how monotonous my voice was, it was out of character for someone like me, who used to convey their emotions through everything they did. He shook his head, his blue hair slightly ruffled, a dark blue tuxedo matching his look perfectly, and he looked into my eyes with firmness, a determination of some sorts, and for what reason I did not know.

"You're missing the point. Yes, the Spartans won, but what happened to the walls of Troy? They stood strong, not a crack made in them … throughout everything the walls of Troy could never be brought down."

His voice was so extremely calm, almost floating in a way, it was the type of voice that felt like it surrounded you in a comfortable manor, he was probably good at motivational speech's or something, not that I saw the point in this one right now.

"That's why you're Faith of Troy, you represent the walls … the game makers ripped you apart, took what mattered the most to you, and tried to completely destroy you. Yet you kept on fighting, you stood strong and confident, promising to never fall."

He truly didn't see how wrong he was, because I was stood right in front of him, obvious for not only him, but the world to see that I was beyond a broken person, I was a mere shell now, not even worthy of being called a person. I turned away from him, walking to the other side of the room and taking a seat at one of the vanity tables, the audible sigh that escaped his lips fell upon deaf ears, and soon joined Karina in leaving the room, the door closing behind them.

I wasn't left alone for long, not that I was doing much in the first place, thoughts that I had once spent so much time on seemed so insignificant now, and if I were to be completely honest I was half waiting for when Cato would make an appearance, and when he did, I couldn't help but turn my head towards the door, blue eyes clashing with green fiercely. He shut the door behind him, standing there while our eyes remained trained on each other, sparking the first feeling that had consumed me in days, one that even before this entire ordeal I couldn't understand.

I was the first to break the contact, turning back around to stare blankly at my small hands, my nails that had been filled with dirt and blood merely days ago were now perfectly, clean, the skin smooth and shining almost, like they had never touched a tool at all.

He didn't say anything, but I was almost certain he wanted to, maybe many things, maybe he had even thought out an entire speech of scolding for my idiocy in the games, but we all know how practiced speech's never go that way. Instead he took small steps to stand directly behind me, so close to touch, I could feel his body heat in such close proximity to me that I even wished he would touch me, knowing my skin would burn like a fire if he did, it was always that way with him.

"What am I Cato, if I'm not poison? Everything I touch seems to crumble beneath my fingers."

As I said those words I brought my hands closer to me, fingers weaving together as if they would provide some form of an answer, and then let them drop to my lap, my eyes closing momentarily as my previous wish had been granted, Cato's large hand resting on my shoulder, slightly squeezing it as he spoke his next words.

"You did what you had to do to live."

Even I knew that wasn't true, and if I could I probably would have laughed at his statement, instead I just shook my head softly, the monotonous voice seemed to slice through the air painfully.

"No … I didn't … and the strangest part is that I don't regret it, I enjoyed it … that's not me … but then again what is? … I don't remember who I am."

"For fucks sake Faith snap out of this!"

I would have usually flinched at an outburst like that, and I probably would have if I was actually listening, Cato's large hand grabbed onto my forearm and yanked me out of my seat, pulling me closer to his form as his next words came out just as angrily, seeming to be frustrated at me for some reason.

"I'll tell you who you are … you're an idiot, you're stubborn, you speak your mind to much, you're harsh, you give as good as you get, and the Faith I know would have spat in the faces of the game makers for doing this to her!"

I stared at him blankly as he rambled on, his face turning pink slightly, becoming even more irritated with me as I didn't offer any words, no confirmation to show I understood, instead I stared at him as if he were speaking a different language.

"You can't shut off; this whole thing is getting old pretty fuckin' fast! _That_ is not you Faith, you don't just give up on everything, you give me a hard time and you make continuous jokes about my hair line. That is who you are!"

"You don't know anything about me."

My words were so quite, barely above a whisper, I wasn't sure if I liked being in such close proximity with him anymore, I felt close, too close, and if I got any closer I wouldn't want to let go; and I had learned by now what happened to things I was close to.

"Then let me in Faith, wake up and let me in … I know somewhere you're in there, so come out because I am not gonna watch you become the next Annie Cresta."

I remembered he had uttered words similar to those before, it felt as if it were years ago and somehow I managed to remember that it was only the night before my games, and just like that a tingling sensation had risen inside the pits of my stomach, because I remembered so clearly what had happened that night.

His lips crashed down on mine hard, it felt more like a blow to the face than an actual kiss, and my mind had to unscramble itself from what had just happened to realise what was going on, and when it did I reacted out of anger, annoyance, feelings I hadn't felt for a number of days; I bit down on his lip, hard. I heard him grunt slightly and pull away from me, smirking and chuckling slightly as I glared at home, my mouth agape in slight shock.

"What do you think you're _doing_?"

He laughed a little loud, seeming quite proud and satisfied with him self, a smug grin that often made me want to punch him in the face was present, and he folded his arms, still grinning as he spoke his next words.

"That's what I'm talking about, that's the Faith that should be standing here right now … although I didn't expect the lip biting."

I stood there silently, actually listening and thinking about his words, words that had so easily passed over my head merely minutes ago, Cato was something else. In the space of ten minutes he could flip my head upside down, and scramble my thoughts up, bringing out feelings I buried deep beneath me, feelings I didn't want to face up to. It scared me, it well and truly scared the living day lights out of me; I wasn't used to the things he made me feel, and I never liked something I didn't understand or recognise.

Maybe that fire he always sparked up inside me of was just what I needed at that moment, I was so used to feeling nothing but pain or guilt that I tried to block them out; I wanted to feel something different, something deeper, it was selfish and silly but maybe that's why I did what I did.

I took him completely off guard, walking towards him in quick strides grabbing onto the sides of his face and pulling his head to my level, my lips pressing against his, but not as hard as the seconds before. Cato seemed to be undecided about what to do, his lips were still for a few moments, and his body didn't move, but after those few seconds of my lips simply pressed against his, I moved my head back slightly, gauging his reaction, his eyes remained closed with his brow creased. He initiated the next kiss, his arms wrapping tightly around my waist and his lips joining with mine once more.

I hadn't realised how much I had missed this, how much I had craved being this close to him, his forceful lips against mine. His musky scent filling my senses, it was all so aggressive, the way we fought for dominance, or how I would tug on his blonde hair, or hold me so tightly that I may not have been able to breathe; and it was just the way I liked it.

He pushed me against the vanity table, teeth grazing my lips harshly, teasing me almost, and I succumbed to it, biting his lips softly. Either I had a lack of will power or simply just wanted to give in to it, but the strangest thing about it was that I thought this sensation was absolutely beautiful, unlike any other feeling or emotion; it was a new kind of passion to me. It could only have been minutes since I had kissed him, but as it was always explained to people it felt like hours, his lips parted from mine, deep breaths being taken on both our parts; a silence engulfing us and I had no idea what to say at my actions, or why I had done it.

"You wanna know why nobody volunteered for Mico at the reaping?"

I looked into Cato's clear blue eyes, filled to the brim with age in them, like he had been forced to grow up and see things he was still too young to witness, yet had taken it in his stride and dealt with it; it was admirable to witness, so beautiful to see with my own eyes.

"They were scared Faith. My Games made them realise that we weren't untouchable, that we were still human and _could_ lose to an amateur. I almost lost to a poor district, that guy from Eleven practically did beat me; my heart just kept beating longer than his did. It woke them up and made them notice that this was more than just a glory hunt, that it was your life on the line."

His hand went to my face, pushing a few strays of my hair out of my vision; his fingers lingering on my skin and making it burn beneath his touch, making me lean slightly into it.

"But you Faith … what you did in there was like nothing else I've ever seen, and if you winning doesn't bring their confidence back up, then I don't know what can … 'cause you're really something to watch."

"What I did in there Cato, it- it's not something … that I should be proud of."

He didn't say anything, and I took it as his silent request for me to go on, and I thought hard about what had been locked in my head for the past few days, what I had been trying so hard to ignore in the hopes of gaining some solace in my walls.

"I see him everywhere … not just in my dreams, but in everything I do; when I look in the mirror he's standing there, or when eating at the table he's right beside me … covered in blood, a hole in his chest … blaming me. It's all I see, it's all I ever see … and it was what I saw when I was killing them all."

Cato leaned forward, his lips grazing my ear and holding my forearms tightly, his voice held so much conviction in it, like it was the truth, I even almost believed him for a second.

"You were there for him until his last breath; you took care of him when no one else would. It was not your fault Faith."

Nothing more was said after than, nothing more could be said, it would just be the both of us repeating conversation over and over again. I would blame myself, and he would tell me not to; but we all knew the truth, we all knew if it wasn't for my stupidity in trusting that snake from Seven things would have turned out so much more differently. Cato led me to the backstage of the studio, promising me that the time I spent with Caesar would fly by, only I knew it was a lie, especially when it came to me having to watch the recap of the Games.

They added dramatic music for fight scenes, and would replay or slow down certain moments for the crowd to revel in it, hearing multiple 'ohhs', it was all one big joke to them, like these people were just characters to them, the last half hour of the recaps was when I looked away, zoning out and putting up those walls so I wouldn't have to hear myself scream over Mico's death, witnessing once was more than enough for me, neither did I want to see the monster I had become in those last hours.

My question time hadn't been any better, it was a painfully silent experience, I couldn't bring myself to give proper answers, with constant scenes projection on the screen behind his it was difficult to even concentrate, I was reliving the nightmare over and over again. There was however one question that answered honestly, one that made tears brim in my eyes as all the emotions I had once felt came crashing down for a single minute.

"My last question to you Faith is … how did you feel when you saw Mico hanging on that tree?"

I visibly flinched at his use of words for what had happened, and Caesar seemed to be somewhat apologetic for even asking, and squeezed one of my hands every so slightly, not letting go of it since I had sat down on stage, and when I answered the entire audience of the Capitol leaned in, my words whispered as I couldn't find it in me speak any louder.

"Like someone had torn out my heart … and stepped on it … and made me watch."

I think I had even heard a sob somewhere in the crowd at my reply, and Caesar whipped a non-existent tear away from the corner of his eye, setting the mood for all of those here.

Leading me to now, the moment I had been dreading since the beginning of my interview; the crowning of the victor by President Snow. If I could have refused the crowning celebration and just gone home, I would have chosen that option in a heartbeat, it was already terrifying enough knowing that Snow was constantly watching you. His deadly eyes anticipating every move you make, daring you to step out of line and destroy your life more than he already had done.

I stayed silent as he placed the crown on my head, a sickeningly sweet smile on his face, and as he adjusted the crown on my head I almost thought I had imagined the words he had uttered, for he held no indication that he ever said them in the first place.

"You're father did some remarkable work on you."

My eyes widened ever so slightly, however it was not in shock, I was more than positive Snow had an idea about the works of my father, he had probably even met him at some point in his life. But his cold eyes scared the hell out of me, it was chilling to the core, he scared me so much that I even begun imagining the smell of blood on him; not that it wasn't impossible, the amount of blood on his hands could have created a river.

"Congratulations Faith Willows."

I could only manage a small nod, my head was still taking in the fact that he would have even dared to say something as outrageous as that on public television, though it could have been possible for the game makers to mute it out, nobody here wanted to piss of the President.

I had ripped the crown from my hair as soon as I was well out of the camera's eyesight, tossing it in one of the bins that was located near my dressing room, I wanted no traces of the Capitol on me, and I couldn't bear to think of them anymore. I was even more thankful to know that I was leaving today, not to come back for a long time, until they forced me to partake as a mentor, I had barely survived on my own in there, I had no idea how to teach another child what to do.

I changed out of the dress as fast as I could, putting on a dark blue blouse, and black trousers, violently pulling at the pins in my hair to let it cascade down my back, as I ran a hand through it quickly I noticed how it had thinned slightly, probably due to the malnutrition of my time in the arena. I had left Karina and Drew with probably one of the most silent goodbyes, my arms holding onto Karina loosely as she hugged me, but even then I couldn't bring myself to feel as guilty as I should have. I just wanted to go back to District Two, hide under my covers, and pretend that none of this had ever happened, pretend that Mico was in his own room doing home work or watching television.

The train station had once again been filled with reporters and photographers, only there was several peace keepers this time to keep them at bay, and I cast my head down as Cato guided us through the platform and onto the train, the door sliding closed behind us and the screams of the Capitol reporters becoming muffled.

Breathing a small sigh of relief I took in my surroundings, we were once again inside the lounge room, and it looked completely spotless, brand new even, like we had never spent two days in this travelling here. I thought of the very first time I had met Cato in this room, and I almost smiled as I thought of the insults I had thrown at him that evening, only the happy thought was erased when I had pictured the look of adoration Mico held when he laid eyes upon him.

"I forgot to give you this before," Cato snapped me out of my daze, and his smiling face seemed perfectly content with everything, he almost looked like a child, although the bulging muscles tweaking out of his black shirt said otherwise, "I was given it when you were admitted to the Hospital wing."

He pulled my wrist towards him with one hand, and I watched him place my mothers bracelet on it, looking up to his face to see him still smiling as he tied to together, his eyes moving up towards me, not letting go of my wrist.

"Thank you." Was the only words I could seem to push out, it was difficult to think when he was looking at me like that, I actually even wanted him to move closer to me, to feel his body heat and smell his natural scent, it made me feel as if I belonged some where still.

I took a step closer to him, wrapping my arms around his waist softly, burying my head into his chest, suddenly feeling a whole lot more emotional than I had in almost a week, and he obliged easily, holding me tightly, as if I would disappear at any moment. I thought of how different things were now between, how far we had come from when I first met him, now understanding just how difficult it must have been for him to mentor us, to know he would watch two young children he got to know die in the arena, and I silently respected him for soldiering through it, because I was sure as hell I wouldn't be able to do the same.

"We're going home." He whispered into my hair, seeming honestly relieved at the fact he could say those words, and I couldn't bring myself to voice my opinion on it, how wrong he was, because I didn't want to ruin this moment, maybe the first time he had been relaxed in weeks.

They say home is where the heart is, and my heart had been with Mico; now that he was gone there was no place for me to call home. District Two was never my home in the first place, I was an outsider there, looking down at them all for their glorification over the Games, and I didn't even talk to anyone unless it was out of necessity. I didn't belong any where, I had no home, I didn't have anything to go back to or win for, I was an alien to the people of Two; it was exactly why I shouldn't have won.

* * *

**Gosh, I really don't like this chapter … and I truly mean that … but I couldn't think of any other way to play this out … it looked so much better in my head! Ahh well, I'll just hope you all liked it, plus there was loads of CatoxFaith in this chapter … which reminds me I was messing around with joining their names and came up with "Fato" ? Hahaha it sounds ridiculous but I love it :3 **

**Damn, twenty eight reviews for the last chapter? That's really something people! Thank you!**

**LouTheThird: Thank you so much! Yeah, she really did become quite a horrible person in that chapter, but like you said it was the games! Patroclus and Wiley's deaths were probably the most brutal thing I've ever written! Thank you for reviewing and hope you like this chapter!**

**Geranium08: Thank you darling! Glad you liked it, and hope you liked this chapter! **

**DrMoustachioGirl: Haha please don't kill me D: I don't want a pencil through my eye! In all honesty do you really think I would have killed her without getting more Fato action in there ;) Haha hope you liked it!**

**C0nt0rt3dM1nd: I did rewrote that part as soon as I saw your review! So thanks! And thank youuuuuuu :3 It worked out so much better in his point of view, left an element of surprised for you all ;) Hope you liked this chapter hun :D **

**Anon: Thank you, don't worry I didn't ;) thanks for reviewing! **

**Wearethelight: hahaha, was it that surprising? And thank you SO much, you honestly don't understand what it means for a fellow writer to say that, especially one that I am a HUGE fan of! Hope you liked this one too! **

**MaygenLynn: Clever word play there ;) hahaha, thanks for reviewing and hope u like this chapter too! **

**Saiyainprincess711: Thank you for every single one of those lovely comments, so sweet of you! Yup, Faith is truly some fighting monster machine! Thanks for reviewing darling and hope you liked this chapter too! **

**JennaRae44: Thank you, glad ya liked it! Ha, hope I didn't leave you too flabbergasted! :D **

**Chibi-chan: Thank you! And I will I promise! **

**Raynacch SilverMoon: Hhaha no not at all, I wont lie I contemplated it AGES ago, when I was still working this story, but then I decided against it! Though it would have been extremely dramatic if she did! And she has in fact shut off, just not as bad as Annie Cresta! **

**HermoineandMarcus: Thank you, and I will!**

**Scoco: Cato? No why would you think he died? Haha, I meant his heart stopped in shock and fear, not because he was about to die! Sorry for the mix up! And thank you so much, hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Angel2u: I'm genuinely sorry, but I hope this makes up for it! **

**Hazu23: Thank you, I'm so glad I decided to do it in Cato's POV it worked out so much better! And thanks for reviewing, enjoy this chapter! :D **

**AlexShah: I can assure you my mental stability is completely safe, and that there is no sick twisted part inside my mind where I enjoyed writing that! Haha, it was rather cringey because of how brutal it was, I just thought it was necessary for Faith to lose herself! Anyway thanks for reviewing and hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Kiralol101: Thank you, and oh god she was really terrible when killing them all … it was like SAW or something when I wrote those! And yes the canons did go off … I just don't think I put it in! So my bad, it was in my head that Faith was so far away from the both of them, and was too focused on killing Julian that she wouldn't even notice the canons! But yes they died, both at the hands of the jungle mutations! Ha, glad your prom went awesomely! **

**CSIGetteBlue: Hope this pretty much answered it for you, haha :D x **

**Alwaysamarauder16: heh, thanks for thinking so! Seriously did work so much better in his point of view, gave me the element of surprise if you didn't know what she was thinking. Plus I just missed Cato, so yeah! Haha and yes she lived to tell the tale, only she's not exactly in the right frame of mind atm! Thanks for reviewing my lovely! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! **

**Bbymojo: Thank you so much for thinking so, and yeah they really did, plus a whole lot more of pain! Update is here, so enjoy it and look out for the next one (which is next week) **

**Justapersonwithapony: Thank you, and yes I couldn't agree more I'm so pleased the last chapter went down so well! Thank you for reviewing, and urgh I know! I just keep thinking Alevels will be over after this .. forever! And good luck on your exams lovely! **

**Nelle07: Sorry! But I hope I made up for it! Haha! And yeah she did … sorry that's my fault I shuda been clearer on her death, she got hacked away by the mutations aswell! **

**The-trident-in-finnicks-pants: Thank you! Hope you liked this one just as much! Hahaha I wish I could do that, but if I want a career after A-levels I need to pass them! **

**Kalei-lei: Haha while I was reading that review, I imagined it to be some sort of rap or something! Haha! And here you find out who won ;) , and I hope it makes up for my last cliff hanger! Thanks for reviewing once more!**

**Bubz: Thank you and I will!**

**Jessaniah: weirdly enough, the more I write about Cato the more I think the exact same! Really is a shame he died! I loved him! And Finnick! Haha, anyway thanks for reviewing! **

**SingingInTheRain: Yes yes, definitely bloody! And certainly creepy! I was like "oh god" every time I wrote a graphic part! Ha I would never kill of Faith, I simply love her too much to ever do that! Thank you for reviewing again darling! **

**WhiteDaisyDune: Ha yes she did! And thank you! Ha really? I'm honoured for you to like it so much then :D And hope you liked this chapter, it's got just what you asked for! ;) and she'll make it eventually, she's just gonna take a little work! **

**That concludes my chapter update, thank you all for reading … the first part of this story is basically over! Ahhhh now we move onto a MUCH bigger plot, Faith mentoring, incorporating the Mockingjay and rebellion … which is an insanely big plot inside my head! AHHH big big things are about to happen people! **

**Before I forget, and just because I need to share my excitement with someone … PROMETHEUS COMES OUT THIS FRIDAY! Gahhh! I seriously am SO excited, Ridley Scott is one of my FAVOURITE directors of all time, he is going to make movie history with that film I swear! Bouncing in my seat watching the trailer over and over again because I am that excited! WHO ELSE IS? **

"**Prometheus, are you seeing this?"**

**Until next week people :DD **


	20. Dust

"_So Much So Young I've Faced On My Own, Walls I Built Up Became My Home, I've Opened Up Unsure I Can Trust, My Heart And I Were Buried In Dust, Free Me Free Us. I Found A Man I Can Trust, And Boy I Believe In Us, I Am Terrified To Love For The First Time … I Am Bound To You." – Christina Aguilera; Bound To You._

* * *

The victory tour had been an absolute disaster, besides the fact that I had to sit through a ceremony in every single district, which was on the same stage of each tributes families, I had to make a speech twelve times expressing my thanks to their co-operation in the games. Standing besides the families of Julian, Patroclus, and the twins had by far been the worst. Patroclus's parents had stared at me with red eyes, indicating their waterfall of tears possibly minutes before the ceremony had even started, and with their looks of anguishing I found it extremely difficult to concentrate, messing up the speech Gold had written up herself countless times.

It was pointless calling it a victory tour; it was more like a guilt trip tour, and to rub it into the faces of those who lost their child or sibling to these games. It was a new form of torture, one to mess you up mentally and to remind you that even though you may not be in the arena, one step out of line could still cost you your life; what a peaceful society we lived it.

I hadn't touched a single piece of furniture in my new home in the victor's village; instead I made sure each window in the house had the curtains drawn and let dust collect everywhere. It seemed more like a tomb than it did my home, and when my things from my previous home had all been moved their I had the spare room made out to exactly what Mico's old room had looked like. It was self torture I knew, but I couldn't find it in myself to let go, I felt as if I were purposefully ignoring him if I threw out everything that was once his.

The season of summer made the evening air in Two rather warm, only a soft breeze caressed my skin as I took a walk through the streets, the dark blue sky and white moon shining on my skin. I pulled my hood up, and zipped up my hoody as I approached the towns square. I had been in the mountains practically all afternoon, attempting to get some thinking done; only it wasn't as easy as it sounded, so eventually I had given up and was on my way back to my new _home_.

It was still rather busy, market stools still cram packed with buyers, and the eldest teenagers only just leaving the academy after an intense training session. That was something I hadn't done since I left the games, I couldn't even begin to think about a weapon in my hands, it was rather disturbing once images filled my mind in a frenzy. I was a mess, I knew it, and everyone in the entire district new it, which was why I barely left my home unless I needed to.

"Faith!"

My head whipped around, green eyes squinting slightly to see who had recognised me in my state, my hair tangled and skin paler than ever, and they widened as they landed on a mass of blonde hair, Cato's tall frame sticking out amongst the crowd of people. His hand was waving in the air, as if trying to catch my attention, and when my eyes had caught his, he began moving towards me, bumping various people as he did so, a rather annoyed look on his face.

I bolted, turning back around and pushing past people in my attempt to dash away from him, knowing for sure what awaited me was an onslaught of profanity yells from him, and when it was a constant occurrence from Cato it got really boring. When I heard him yell my name once again, sounding a great deal frustrated, I began sprinting, knowing if I ran fast enough he wouldn't catch me. I had been avoiding him for far too long, even before the victory tour, and I had made an extra effort to do so after than, I didn't know whether it was out of humiliation or fear of opening up once again.

* * *

"_I'm gonna go to my room."_

_Gold nodded her head, a small frown etched onto her perfect features, not that I blamed her; today had not been a good day. I knew District Four would be a rather difficult one to visit, especially as I had so brutally killed both their tributes, and I made sure not to make any eye contact with any of their relatives. I guess it's safe to say I didn't expect Julian's younger sibling to sock me in the face, at least I thought she was, seeing as they had the exact same features, only hers had a feminine tinge to it, and her frame was rather small if compared to his._

_I bet that certain scene made television history, and I would have a dark purple bruise on my cheek for the next week or so to prove how much power she put into it. Not that I could blame her, she was angry that I had taken her brother, devastated even, just like I had been when Mico had died. I didn't know what was worse, seeing the person you love die in your arms, or on live television, either way it killed you because you knew nothing you could do would save them._

_I made a dash to the bedroom carriage, hoping not to bump into Cato on the way, the last thing I wanted was his nagging voice at my bruise, or his attempts to convince me to have dinner with them; it's not like I had an appetite at the moment anyway. _

_Reaching my room without any interruptions, I locked the door behind me, a habit I had quickly caught onto when starting the victory tour, as people on the train happened to love walking into each others rooms without permission. Absentmindedly I changed into a night dress, leaving the pencil skirt and blouse Karina had given me in a heap on the floor, adding to the clutter and mess I had already made in here, and crawled into bed, craving solace in my dreams, only I knew there was no such thing as a peaceful sleep anymore. _

_It was always the same, and I'm pretty sure it happened with every victor in their first few months of returning to the real world, waking up from screaming from your dreams no longer seemed abnormal to be. With the constant memories of every single death in that arena, every single mutation, it all seemed to be twice as worse in my dream, because it felt so real, like I was right back in the arena, like nothing had changed, I was still running for my life from a mutation or trying to find Mico. _

_My screaming would could go on for several minutes at a time, mostly because in my dreams the mutations had gotten to me, ripping at my skin and tearing it off, their large teeth digging into my flesh and clamping down on my limbs greedily. The pain was so evident and excruciating that I had a hard time coming to terms with it not being real, my skin still burned and ached even when I was awake, and I could always hear my heart beat slamming against my chest at a fast pace, as if I had been running for miles. _

_Heavy knocks sounded at the door, and I already knew who it was, I was surprised that Cato hadn't given up by now. Every night, right on cue after I had woken myself up screaming, he would be there outside the door, attempting to get me to open it. It were almost as if he waited for me to start screaming, because he couldn't be the only person to be awakened by it, I'm certain Gold or Karina would have too, or I could simply put it down to the fact Cato was a light sleeper. I came to the conclusion that he couldn't pull himself out of the habit, after all falling into a deep sleep in the arena was like asking a tribute to slit your throat, anyone more than happy for an easy kill._

_His knocks sounded on the door again, his voice sounding tired and stressed, "Faith, just open up … we can talk about this." _

_But there wasn't anything to talk about, nothing would make my nightmares disappear, he probably knew just as well as I did how bad they were, no amount of hugs or comforting words could make them go away. _

_Besides, I already had a guest constantly beside me, becoming visible in my most vulnerable times, as if it didn't scare me enough._

"_You've got to open the door eventually."_

_My head snapped to the small figure, his form hidden by darkness and stood in the corner of the room. Mico's voice was playful, like so many times before in my memories, where I had found it endearing; only now it disturbed me beyond belief. He walked forward, his figure becoming visible, and he still wore his tribute clothes, and with his back shirt came a gaping hole in his chest, blood still seemed to be dripping from it, a never ending cycle. His hands were covered in the same substance, along with his tanned face mixed in with dirt and sweat, a lopsided grin on his face._

_I turned from him, lying back onto my pillow and shutting my eyes tightly, my hands covered my ears as I tried to block out the sounds in the room; Mico's footsteps, Cato's knocking and both their voices mixed in together, one strained and the other cheerful._

"_You're not real, you're not real, you're not real, you're not real."_

_Tears stung my eyes, my throat already sore from my screaming, and my chest tightened painfully as I could already feel sobs attempting to push through. He was here every night, ever since I returned to the District, standing off in a corner somewhere, always covered in blood and making some childish comment about myself or Cato, and every time my eyes widened in horror an almost dark look adorned his features, terrifying me beyond belief._

"_Don't ignore me Faith … I want you to tell me a story!"_

_I felt the bed moving, as I guessed he started to bounce on it, a trait the real Mico had whenever he woke me up early in the morning, and I grit my teeth to stop the sob that just about made it through my lips._

"_Please just leave me alone," I whispered, my tone pleading, sounding beyond desperate, I didn't want to lose all my sanity, I didn't want to forget who I once was._

"_But I can't Faith …you're the only family I have left."_

_My heart clenched, almost believing the person who said those words actually were Mico, but I knew that if I accepted that then I had crossed a line, that I would have well and truly lost all sanity I once had._

"_You're **not **real," I had begun weeping quietly at this point, my eyes still shut tightly, afraid that if I opened them he would still be there, his voice slightly muffled due to my ears being covered, along with Cato's repetitive knocking. _

"_But I am Faith … I am," his voice had changed from soft and sweet, to slightly deranged, still childlike yet with a dark tone to it, and slowly I felt a small wet hand touch my cheek, my eyes snapping open to see Mico's black empty ones staring into mine._

"_See? I'm real..." _

_His hand left my cheek, but a cold wet substance still lingered there, and my own hand darted there, touching it briefly, moving to see what it was, and my skin felt cold as I saw the thick liquid of blood on my fingers tips. I screamed louder than I had in weeks, much like when Mico had first died, falling off of the bed and crawling into an corner of the room, my rubbing my cheek with my night dress, attempting to clean off the blood that belonged to Mico. Only it didn't work that way, instead it seemed that my hands and clothes were coated in more of it, drying into the cotton material, and getting stuck under my nails, dripping onto the floors and drenching the carpet in it._

"_Leave me alone, please!" _

_I screamed my words over and over again, terror plaguing me as I felt as if I were being bathed in his blood, my red hair sticking together like it had when the arena was pouring with rain, tasting the iron substance in my mouth. Through it all I heard him giggling softly, as if this were some big joke, like a year or so before when he had placed a plastic spider in my bed, frightening me beyond belief._

"_You're not real! You're not real!"_

_The noises that filled the room made my ear drums plead in pain, as if everything were too loud, it was all amplified. So loud that I hadn't even heard Cato begin kicking at the door, his tone taking on one of worry, amidst all the chaos that went on inside the room and my head, the door burst open, practically broken off of its hinges._

_The light was switched on, a series of multiple voices filling the room, only it all seemed to fly over my head, all I still saw was the grinning face of Mico and a maroon coloured liquid taking over the sheets and walls of the room. My wrists were yanked on, being taken away from where they were placed on my head, pulling at my hair, and a large form obscured my vision of where I had once seen Mico standing. Cato's blonde hair ruffled and his eyes on alert, his white t- shirt creased dishevelled, pulling me towards him in an attempt to stop my screaming. _

"_Calm down it's just me," His voice was warm, welcoming me in, and had triggered some sort of calmness inside me, I stopped my thrashing, blinking a few times to adjust to the fact the room was no long covered in blood._

"_I just want him to leave me alone," I whimpered, bowing my head as tears fell from my eyes once more, only to be forced to sit upright and face Cato, who was crouched onto the balls of his feet, his eyes serious._

"_Who Faith?"_

"_Mico."_

_His face fell slightly, brows creasing together in confusion, and his head shot up beside him to look at the standing figure of Karina, her pale skin blending in with her white night dress, a look of confusion on her own features. Cato turned back to me, speaking with a tone that reminded me of an adult reading to a child, and some old part of me almost wanted to scowl._

"_Mico's gone Faith."_

_I shook my head, my hands pointing behind his shoulder, "He's standing right there!" He turned slightly, his right shoulder no longer blocking my vision, only to see the spot that Mico once stood in was empty._

"_Faith … there's no one there."_

_His tone was cautious, as if his words would trigger an act of violence to myself or him, his hands grabbing onto my wrists once more, and I shook my head again, desperate to prove that I truly hadn't become District Two's own Annie Cresta. _

"_He was standing right there! I swear … I swear he was there and he was covered in blood … I know he's not real, I know that … but he wont leave me alone! I want him to leave me alone Cato, I want to forget ..."_

"_Okay, okay.." His arms wrapped around me and his face looked defeated, I knew why … he didn't believe me, he thought I was delusion, he thought I had turned crazy._

_But I needed his warmth, the comfort he offered chased away the coldness and fear I felt in my heart, and I grabbed fistfuls of his shirt as I cried into it, fully knowing it wouldn't be the last time I saw Mico._

* * *

So I was a little irritated with him for his lack of belief in me, I knew maybe it hadn't sounded exactly believable, but I admitted that I knew he wasn't real, didn't make it feel any less real when Mico would appear at any moment in the day, days like this for example. For when I had stepped into my empty home and locked the door behind me, I heard his childish giggle once more, the hairs on my back standing up as I gritted my teeth and turned around. My head was already pounding, and I tried to ignore Mico's taunting words about his death as I climbed the stairs, rubbing my eyes tiredly as stray tears fell, thinking about I how far I had fallen, the mess of a person I was now was no where near the hard headed Faith I had spent years making myself to be.

"Go away!"

I screamed at the dirtied face of Mico, who stared blankly at me from the bottom of the stairs, and I slammed the door of the room I was in, the hood still over my head as I looked over the many posters of previous victors Mico had once owned. Consisting of Brutus, Cato and Finnick Odaire, all victors he had loved so much, ones he admired because they had appeared so strong in their own games, I was nothing compared to these three people, or Johanna Mason for that matter.

"You know … no matter how many times you say that I'm not going anywhere."

Mico's small frame reappeared onto his old bed, bouncing on it and blood dripping into the sheets, I rubbed my eyes once more, and this time it wasn't to wipe away the tears that were falling, but out of tiredness, my insomnia was wearing off and the lack of sleep I got was getting to me. I leaned against the wall of his room, sliding down to the floor and pulling my knees up, my hands wrapping around them as I buried my head into my lap.

"Why won't you leave me alone?"

My voice was broken, fatigue taking over me, but I knew that if I fell asleep now I would wake up screaming sooner or later, and Mico released a childish scoff, his figured moving from the bed to crouch in front of me in a swift motion.

"Because you need me Faith."

I shook my head at him, looking him dead on in the eye, a playful gleam in his eyes, and a sickeningly sweet smile on his face, the stench of blood coming from him making my stomach turn, almost making me want to gag.

"No .. I need the **real **Mico … you're not him … you're not real."

His head tilted slightly, his smile still present, and he began laughing once more, one that really did make me want to vomit, and I covered my hears in an attempt to block him out once more.

"Shut up! Just shut up!"

My hands flew to push his body back, only for them to go straight through his form, as if he were a ghost, and his smile grew at my facial expression, my bottom lip falling open in shock and horror, when multiple times before I had felt his solid touch. I chanted the same words I had told myself countless nights, stating that he wasn't real, that he wasn't Mico, that I was imagining it, yet no matter how many times it was said there was still one clear fact; I could still see him, he was still there, he wasn't going away. I didn't understand why, I didn't get the purpose of his presence, whether it was because I constantly blamed myself for his death, or if it was my own mind torturing me, all I wanted was to be left alone.

"Hush little baby don't say a word,"

"No." I pleaded, standing and moving away from him, backing myself into the opposite wall, my hands pressing down harder on my ears, anything to not hear the lullaby he was singing.

"Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird-"

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

He smiled, as if satisfied with my reaction, only this time I didn't feel a cold shiver run down my spine when he didn't, instead his smile seemed soft, as if I had a large breakthrough. The darkness in his eyes faded a little, slightly showing the brown colour his eyes once were, and looked knowingly towards the bedroom door, as if he was aware of something I hadn't yet caught onto. It was on cue when the door was burst open, this time not breaking off its hinges as it opened the force not as hard as it was before.

My eyes stared confusedly at the door, and then back to the spot Mico stood in; his arms folded bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet, his eyes trained on the blond standing by the door frame.

"How did you get in here?"

Cato's hand rose slightly, showing a small shining silver key between his fingers, and I took the chance to assume they were spare keys to my home. My hand reached out to snatch them away, only Cato was a step ahead of me, his eyes narrowing and pulling his hand back, key being placed into his jean pocket.

"Alec, he gave me his copy a while ago."

Alec was what you could call the caretaker of the victors village, he kept the empty ones clean and clear of any trespassers, he also kept the street of the village perfectly spotless, even in the snow he was seen shovelling it up and out of the way, he also had a copy to every single home in this village. Being the popular District for winners in the Games there was a lot of homes, off the top of my head there were at least four streets already occupied with victors, each area with its own caretaker, and our one was the most recently employed, seeing as there were still many unoccupied houses on our street.

He was a relatively polite man, but mostly kept to himself, he never talked much, not that I had actually made an attempt to converse with him, nor did he look like he wanted me to, which I happened to like. He was rather old to, probably reaching into his forties, and his black hair had streaks of grey in it, his eyes an almost dull grey colour.

"He had no right too."

"Yeah well it's not like it was for free."

Cato's tone sounded hard, irritated even, and for a split second he let his eyes wonder around the room, a look of disgust adorning his perfect features, turning back to me, his blue eyes boring into mine, like he could see through me.

"You've been avoiding me."

I folded my arms, averting my gaze as I felt uncomfortable under his stare, looking to the floor, taking a step back as he took one forward, his tone becoming more forceful as he demanded an answer.

"Why are you shutting me out Faith?" One step forward, proceeded by another one back, "Because you don't understand."

"Understand? Faith, how can anyone understand better than me?"

His hands went to touch his chest as he looked at me, looking slightly insulted at me words, "but you don't believe me … so you don't understand."

He sighed, stopping in his footsteps, "Faith, look at you- look at all of this! Everything is in your head, none of it is real," he pointed a finger towards his head, as if trying to emphasize his point.

"I know that!" I retorted, determined to make him know how crazy I knew this looked.

"But it doesn't make it feel any less real, I can see him, I can hear him! I know he's not real but it feels like it!"

His jaw clenched in frustration, looking the wall behind me as he attempted to calm his emotions, "You say you wanna forget … but look at all of this crap Faith, what is this?"

His arms motioned around the room, and my hand rested against one of the posters on the walls, "I don't want to lose everything I have of him that's all."

"Faith, you're not even making sense anymore … how can you expect me to believe you're not turning crazy when you say you can see Mico, and say you want to forget everything, and have all of this shit in this room?"

His hands began ripping down the posters, making some of them tear in half and drop the floor, pushing past me slightly and knocking photo frames off shelves, glass smashing onto the floor and shattering, I pulled on one of his arms, fear filling me as he destroyed everything I had of Mico.

"Cato, stop it! You're ruining everything!"

"No," he grunted out, as he continued destroying everything that lay in his path, "I'm giving you closure."

I pulled on his arm, more forcefully this time, dragging him away from his current task and making him whirl around to face me, his face red with anger, yanking his arm out of my hold, only to grab onto my upper arms and shake me slightly.

"You need to let go Faith! You need to accept what has happened, you need to accept that he's never coming back! Only then will he really leave you alone!"

I stared at him, never hearing his words come out so harshly, he had always tried to gently make me come to terms with things. Maybe he had decided he was going about it the wrong way, and to slap the truth right into my face may do me a lot better than soft words ever could, only I couldn't decide which one of those to go for. I looked around the room, seeing all the broken pieces of Mico clutter the floor, photos of us together covered in shards of glass, contemplating whether he was right or not.

"He's not gonna come through that door one day asking for a story, you need to stop pretending that it's going to happen."

"You don't understand Cato," I whispered, not expecting his reaction to my words to be one of anger, his hold on my arms tightening as he finally completely lost his patience and temper with me.

"I don't understand? You think I don't have nightmares every night about Clove? You think I don't wake up realising I was ten seconds too late to save her? You think I don't wish I didn't hear her screams of help for me when Thresh was destroying her skull with a rock? You don't think I want to forget her dying in my arms?"

I didn't have a retort to that, because I knew that he may have been much worse off than me, Cato didn't have someone who tried to break through to him after he came out, and he didn't have a friend who constantly knocked on his door every night. I did however, from the moment I was taken out of that arena Cato had become my shadow, trying to pull me out of the black hole I had put myself in, trying to fix my broken mind, and I hadn't even been grateful towards him. I had been completely selfish. I had spent so much time feeling sorry for myself and thinking the world was over, that I hadn't stopped to realise that maybe seeing me suffer was making Cato relive his own nightmare, and that he was trying to save both of us from plunging into darkness.

"I'm sorry," my tone had become soft, trying to show that I truly was apologetic, for many things, and his grip on my arms loosened.

He let out a long sigh, like he had bottled up those thoughts for a very long time, and one of his hands moved to the back of my head, pulling me closer towards him, our foreheads pressing together softly, my free arm resting on his chest. His warm breath kissing my skin and I breathed in his scent, one that I loved to be so close to all the time.

"I just want you to trust me Faith."

"I do," I whispered back, our tones both quite and soft on an equal level, as if we were sharing some sort of secret, and our eyes connected as a small smile was placed on his lips, and I returned it with a small weak one of my own.

I rested my head on his shoulder, my hands grabbing fistfuls of his shirt as he held me tightly, whispering once more words I hoped would always be true.

"I'm not going anywhere Faith."

I nodded softly, knowing he could feel it, and opened my eyes to look at Mico in the corner of the room, a genuine smile on his face, his shirt no longer bloodied, instead he looked perfectly clean; a mirror image of what he was before he was reaped. Slowly, his form began to disappear, breaking into small tiny pieces and fading away, as if he were shards of sand in a desert, taken away by the wind to another destination, completely disappearing.

It was as if a huge weight had been taken off of my chest, my heart suddenly felt a lot lighter than it had in months, and I blinked back tears from the corner of my eyes, for once they were not tears of sadness. For the first time in a long time … I felt free.

* * *

**I would really like to apologise for not updating during the weekend! I was seriously going to, only under unforeseeable circumstances I couldn't get on my laptop! So truly I'm sorry, and I will make it up to you all! ALSO I would just like to say after this the depressing chapters are kinda over, as Faith will have to start working as a victor/mentor and hopefully go back to her old self **

**Anyone watch the MTV Movie awards? I did the other day … Now I LOVE the Hunger Games with all my heart and I think it deserved every award it got … but tbh I think 'Best Fight' should have gone to Harry Potter, I'm not a die hard fan but I just thought HP deserved it more … seeing as the HP generation and the cast waited ten years for that final fight scene with Harry and Voldemort, I just thought after all that hard work it deserved that certain award. But anyway all the other awards THG won were truly well deserved! The film was awesome, and the cast was fantastic, and I'm still happy for them for winning best fight!**

**Alwaysamarauder16: Awww thank you for your reassurance, I'm just glad you liked it! And the depressing chapters have probably been the hardest ones to write, I just wanted to show how much the games can affect a person, mentally! Ha, and yes thanks for reviewing!**

**WhiteDaisyJune: Trust me! It means so much that a Clato fan likes this story, because some Clato fans really don't believe in him being paired with any other person … especially an OC! And trust me so am! And if that happens it'll definitely be LATER on in the story, when the rebellion starts ;)**

**Thetridentinfinnickspants: I always loved that Susan Collins still showed just how much the Games to mess up a person! So I totally loved Annie Cresta, just wanted to incorporate that a little in these two chapters!**

**Wearethelight: Thank you so much :3 I'm happy you liked it, and yeah I know a lot of people don't realise just how traumatising something like that can be. If I survived something like the games (which I don't think I would) I would totally be sectioned. Ha! And you don't give yourself enough credit dude! **

**C0nt0rt3dm1nd: I would say I hope this chapter made up for the lack of Mico … but then that would be extremely twisted wouldn't it? Heh … and yes, hopefully! Thank you for reviewing :D **

**DrMoustachioGirl: Haha thanks for that! And Prometheus was awesome, watched it last Friday … in 3D #Fuckyeah … haha anyway thanks for reviewing and hope you liked this chapter! :D **

**HermoineandMarcus: Thank you! Will do **

**Hazu23: Thank you so much! And hope u liked this one too!**

**AlexShah: Thank you for thinking so! And I hope it doesn't get too depressing! Things will start to look up I swear! Thanks for reviewing darling xx**

**X: thank you **

**Bbymojo: Haha, yep he's her rock alright … only she doesn't fully appreciate it! Thanks for reviewing once again **

**Bubz: I have I have!**

**Kalei-lei: Haha yep, definitely what I was going for … and nope it's not it … I'm just going to merge all three books (well not three books coz its AU) into one big story, so hope you like it :D**

** .120: More is her darling, hope you like it **

**AwaitingHogwartsLetter: Love your name! I'm still waiting for mine too! Haha! And really? It flatters me beyond belief that you think that! But honestly I think of Susan Collins of way above me in terms of writing! Thank you SO much for thinking so though! Trust me you've explained perfectly well what you think of this story, and when I read your review the BIGGEST smile crossed my face, truly thank you so much for your wonderful compliments! And I hope you continue to like this story! **

**Kiralol101: ha, yes she did! I was never gonna let her die really ;) I love her too much! And not so much … she's going to kind of establish her own home on her own now, sorta learn to fix herself … with Cato there of course ;) and yep I'll be doing mentoring, plus rebellion … and a few surprises I thought of myself ;) Hha so thanks for reviewing!**

**Justapersonwithapony:Thank youuuu! and there'll be more to come! Will doo :D **

**Dougy: Just be patient and you'll get a whole lot more!**

**Night-Weaver369: Wow twenty four hours? That's really something! And thank you! It means a lot to know that, honestly Sorry it made you cry that badly, But I am glad it evokes the correct emotions I'm trying to make the readers feel! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Nelle07: Don't worry it's not! Much more to come! **

**JennaRae44: don't worry! I love the "I love this parts" it helps me understand what the readers enjoy reading, so I can repeat the same feelings for you all in the other chapters! Don't worry she won't go completely insane, but she definitely has lost a lot of her previous self, she has to start rebuilding now! And that'll never happen … I truly have found my love with this story, it's probably the easiest thing I write! **

**Luli Cullen: Welcome new reader and thank you! Hope you liked this update! **

**Geranium08: YES! ANOTHER PROMETHEUS FAN! I WATCHED IT! I wont spoil it for you just in case you haven't seen it but … it was wonderful, visually beautiful and so clever in plot and alien creation … just wow … totally gonna make a franchise out of it! Michael Fassbender as David FTW! Anyway haha thank you, glad you think so and the rebellion is gonna be a big one ;), got a huge mini story for that! Ahhh I can't wait to show you all! **

**Saiyanprincess711: Thank you so much! You're always so kind about this story and it genuinely means so much to me, you've been a follower from the very beginning and I love you for that so thank you! **

**GoldRainMorning: Nope, you are correct there! All will be revealed in the next few chapters with that ;) And I can't wait to write the rebellion, it's gonna be awesome! **

**PeppermintAmortentia: I was wondering for AGES where the hell you were! Hope everything went well and all is good! Thank you for reviewing again darling, hope you liked this chapter and can't wait to see an update from you! **

**CookieMonster224: Thank you, I hope you liked this chapter and continue to read the story **

**Dreamsnhugs: Ha, thank you so much! Yeah, I'll admit upon first read it must seem a little silly. But trust me when I said I had no intention of starting this story until I was fully aware of what happened from beginning to end, in a lot of detail and with original ideas! And No Katniss/Peeta were not in Cato's games, they'll have a 'cameo' laterrrrrr on … haha and don't be ashamed! Nothing wrong with having an emotional connection with fictitious characters! I do!Thank you for your awesome words! Hope you liked this chapter! **

**Yep so anyway my lovely readers … for a LONG time I've kinda had some weird issue with my identity on here, I liked the idea of being anonymous … but I'm not as weird about it as I used to be … SO if any of you have twitter, PM and I'll give you my real account name **


	21. Words Revised Version

"_Why Don't You Be The Artist And Make Me Out Of Clay? Why Don't You Be The Writer And Decide The Words I Say? 'Cause I'd Rather Pretend You'll Still Be There At The End, Only It's Too Hard To Ask, Won't You Try To Help Me." – Ellie Goulding; The Writer._

* * *

I sat cross legged in the hallway leading to my front door, two cardboard boxes set before me as I threw away the final broken ornaments from the mess Cato had made days before, I sifted through broken frames and photo's. I had left the door open to allow a nice breeze in, the heat of summer still at its peak, and also because Cato moved back and forth throwing things out. You could count this as a redecoration of the house, as Cato had insisted getting rid of all my old furniture would assist in my 'road to recovery', and I sifted through many old photo albums, finding it rather difficult to even think about throwing any of them away.

Photos meant so much to me, it was a way of keeping a memory intact, ones that I sometimes couldn't even remember until I looked back, and there were so many of Mico and I that I couldn't even comprehend how Cato would think I could do this. I'd eventually come across a small stack of much older photos, one that I had been given by the carers once I had left the orphanage with Mico. They were all with him, practically a baby, while I looked like some moody brat, which I had reason to be, I didn't like anyone else in the orphanage apart from Mico, and my father had gotten himself blown to pieces months prior.

I stared at one particular photo for several minutes, softly smiling to myself at the chubby cheeked brown child, his wide green showing several missing teeth, a worn out teddy bear strapped to his side. A teddy bear I still happened to own, something else I also came across earlier, and had left it laying beside me as I thought of deciding later whether it should be thrown out or not. That familiar pain in my chest appeared again, tightening and constricting me from breathing almost, and a lump formed in my throat, warning me that if I didn't control myself I would end up in tears once more.

I took in a shaky breath, my hands trembling slightly as I blinked back tears; I couldn't cry anymore, I was done with it. Tucking my hair behind my ear I placed the small stack of photos next to the bear that belonged to Mico, picking out another album of Mico's eleventh birthday. I hosted a party that consisted of his academy friends; I had never felt more like a mother than I had that day that was for sure I was half way through them when Cato came in through the door, leaning against the doorframe watching me intently.

I gave him a weak smile, going back to the photos, his heavy footsteps filtering the house as he came to stand beside me, crouching down until he was balancing on the balls of his feet. He looked over my shoulder at the set of photos, his eyebrows furrowing in slight irritation, gathering that I hadn't actually decided on what to throw out. Picking up the haggard bear her looked at it sceptically, his blue eyes turning to me and giving a questioning look.

I shrugged, pulling it out of his hands and into the box that would be thrown out, "It's Mico's favourite bear," I don't know why I used the present tense when mentioning his name, and the frown that took over Cato's face proved that he had easily picked up on it.

"You know what happened to Mico's parents?"

He shrugged softly, indicating for me to go on with my small story, "when he was born, his parents attempted to escape from the District … they believed District 13 still existed, and they were caught by peacekeepers … you can imagine what they did to them."

Cato leaned backwards slightly to sit on the floor, drawing his knees up for his forearms to loosely rest on them, an eyebrow raised slight towards me.

"How do you know that?"

"Back in the orphanage I broke into the file room, read through quite a few files that day, and got caught as I was half way through Mico's … he never knew though."

He nodded, looking at the photos I quickly sifted through, only picking out certain significant ones, ones that I knew I couldn't throw out, especially ones of when he was so young, and placed the remaining ones in the chuck box.

We sat in a comfortable silence for sometime, I found it rather soothing, therapeutic even; it was relatively easy to be comfortable enough that no conversations were needed. Silence was something I appreciated a lot more now, seeing as in the last few months I had had anything but that, it felt as if my mind was experiencing peace for the first time, not entirely sure on what it was or how it should be handled, it was almost alien like. Of course it didn't stop my nightmares from plaguing me, not that I had expected it to anyway, I may have been set free from my nightmares during the day, but it definitely made sure I compensated for it in my sleep.

Sleep was meant to be a form of relaxation for the brain, giving it time to rejuvenate for the day ahead, yet I didn't see how mine was given that, it spent all day trying to stay sane while in the nights it was bombarded with memories of monsters and loved ones dying. I was slightly surprised the Capitol didn't deem it necessary for every victor to have a monthly meeting with psychologist, we all knew how they would have treat with each victor and deciphering through their problems, but then again if the victor didn't come home in some form of a mess, whether it be physical or mental, then the people of the District wouldn't have much to fear.

Death was a fear for every District member, but after death there was nothing, after death it was over, you were relieved of the emotions of fear and the feeling of pain. But living through that, and having to spend the left of your pitiful life remembering what you did, that was the ultimate fear, the fear of knowing you'd never feel like a normal person again, the fear of not knowing that you'd lost yourself and were a mere shell of the person you had shaped yourself up to be the years previous; that was the scary part. It was also a warning, Snow and the rest of the government officials who fawned over him like they were a bunch of overweight imbeciles arguing over who got the last cupcake, they were all reinforcing their power by using us as prime examples, that no one was safe should we decide to behave badly.

"I don't think I can get rid of anymore," I sighed, rubbing at my eyes tiredly, my head feeling a little light, and ran a hand through my lose hair, looking to Cato a little helplessly.

He nodded his head softly, a hand resting on my shoulder as some form of silent comfort, before he took in a breath and stood, lifting one of the boxes to throw out, looking down at me, his voice suddenly sounding optimistic, truth be told it was slightly creepy; in a comical sense.

"When was the last time you ate?"

I shrugged my shoulders absentmindedly, lifting the box that I was keeping and walked into the living room, placing it on the black coffee table that I had purchased the day before, the store clerk had seemed almost desperate to sell it, apparently being from last years collection from the Capitol. I didn't care for fashion of furniture, to be honest what was the point in caring, it was all used for the same thing in the end, all eventually thrown out for a newer piece to do the exact same job. God, I was becoming so morbid, complaining about peoples obsession in furniture styles, I think The Capitol definitely needed to invest in therapy for the victors.

"Right, come on," with his free arm Cato took hold of my wrist loosely, pulling me behind him down the hallway and out the front door, I quickly pulled it closed behind me, my face contorted into one of confusion. Cato placing the box on the side of the street along with many others, to be collected in the morning by the dustbin collectors; I guess there was no going back now.

"Where are we going?"

"To get dinner."

He didn't say where, or what we were going to eat, not that I wondered for long, we had walked for barely under a minute, and crossed the street, stopping on a porch step of an identical home to mine, to every house on the street really. A black coloured double door stood before us, the outside walls painted maroon; all these houses were large enough to fit at least seven family members.

I took a step back as he knocked, panicked a little, "are you insane? I can't meet your family!"

He chuckled, only pulling on my forearm as I tried to wriggle out of it, looking at me as if I were a child.

"My mother is not going to eat you, stop being melodramatic."

"B-but ..." he looked at me expectantly, as if he were ready to roll his eyes at whatever excuse I could think up, I struggled in his hold of my arm a few moments more, "I'm a mess, look at me I'm not in the type of clothing to visit someone for dinner!"

As if on cue Cato rolled his eyes, exactly in time with the door opening, a middle aged woman smiling brightly at the door, crystal blue eyes identical to Cato's, only hers were surrounded by creases in the skin around her eyes, as if she spent a life time grinning. Her hair was as black as the night, only it shined as if she herself were a star, and was pulled back into a bun, although a few strands escaped as if she had been on her feet all day.

An apron wrapped around her small form, she seemed to barely reach my height, let alone Cato's and although the two held barely no resemblance, the matching eyes in both people were all I needed to confirm that this beauty was Cato's mother. On her hip she carried a small child, no older than one I guessed, the little girl was wrapped in a baby pink body suit and raven hair, a matching pacifier attached to her lips, and eyes just as innocently blue as her mothers.

"You must be Faith! It's so wonderful to finally meet you."

I pushed out a small smile; one that I'm sure was passed of as shyness to Cato's mother, she took a few steps back and waved both me and Cato in, with a forceful push from Cato I caved, almost stumbling in, Cato behind me, bending down to kiss his mother on the cheek. Taking the baby out of her arms he walked past me, giving me his hardest stare, some silent form of threatening me to be polite, the little baby cooed in Cato's arms, and he let out a small laugh as he raised her in the air slightly, walking down the hall and through a door.

Based on the layout of the house, I took a guess and assumed it was the living room, seeing as mine was located in the exact same place. I turned around to Cato's mother, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, she looked bemused at my discomfort, I extended a hand slowly to shake, she stared it at for a moment before letting out a bark of laughter, grabbing my wrist and pulling me in for a hug. Her thin arms wound tightly around me, at a loss of words and confusion to her forwardness I stood there with my arms at my sides, waiting until she had drawn away from me and held onto both my wrists softly, still smiling widely.

"There's no need for formalities Faith, we're all friends here … you can call me Ivy."

I nodded, still a little dazed and let her lead me into the living room, she placed me on the same couch as Cato, who had his little sister in his lap, laughing with her as she clapped her tiny hands together. I watched the exchange quietly, Ivy disappearing back into the hallway, probably to finish off her cooking, and it was probably the most mind boggling site I had ever seen. Cato the vicious and cocky victor of the 74th Hunger Games was making baby sounds and bouncing a baby in his lap, looking completely at ease and genuinely happy.

* * *

Having dinner with people you didn't know was already uncomfortable, having to make conversation with them without any help from your supposed friend was in a whole other league. It wasn't to say that Ivy was boring or impolite, she was the opposite actually, perfect manners and so unbelievably easy to get along with that I wondered if any of that hard sarcastic attitude he put on was ever real, and if so I would have to question whether I knew him at all.

He made the occasional eye contact with me every other minute, probably to make sure I wouldn't have a mental breakdown, making me think that maybe he knew _me_ too well. I was struggling to even enjoy myself, being around all of this; a doting mother, a happy baby, and laughing son, it all reminded me of what I didn't have, and what I would possibly never have.

I sat beside Ivy as she continued to speak happily of a memory of Cato as a child, of how he always loved weapons and anything that was related with the Hunger Games, and how his father had taken a part in helping him learn to fight. At the mention of his father Cato visibly tensed, and out of the corner of my eye I watched as his smile became tight lipped towards his sister, sat in a high chair beside him playing with her food, although Ivy seemed fine when she spoke of him.

"Do you like your food Faith?"

I nodded, not wanting to offend her, and she smiled as she continued with her food, a perfectly cooked roast chicken, with potatoes perfectly baked and dipped in gravy, vegetables finishing off the dish, the tenderness of the chicken making my taste buds explode. It was perfect. Their home held a warm glow to it, and even though there seemed to be only three family members here it was filled with an atmosphere that made you feel like you would never be alone, which was more than I could say for my own house, it didn't even look like it was lived in, the place felt dead to me, I didn't hold any emotional ties to it whatsoever. But this place held an aura of such softness, so much love and happiness that surrounded you, it made you feel safe.

"So Faith, have you decided what your talent is?"

I stared at her questioningly, confused and unaware of what it was she exactly meant, "Talent? For what?"

She turned to look at Cato opposite, her eyes narrowing at him playfully, and he stared back quizzically at her, waiting for what she had to say.

"Have you not told her about needing a talent yet?"

"I thought she already knew," Cato said, shrugging nonchalantly and taking a sip of his drink, smiling slightly at his mother as she rolled her eyes at him, before she turned back to me.

"Useless! Every victor has to have a certain talent, from now on you'll be doing magazine features or interviews at The Capitol, and so your talent is broadcasted a lot to Panem."

"Great," I breathed out tiredly, my plan of wanting nothing to do with The Capitol until the next Games had been thrown out of the window, and it looked that way for the rest of my life. I didn't even know whether I had a talent worthy of being televised, after all apart from singing or acting there wasn't much you could do, and I couldn't do neither of those anyway. I'd seen the odd victor on one of Caesar's late night shows now and again, but only to be interviewed about their current life outside of the arena, or who they were dating, but never on a talent, I didn't even understand how something as huge as this had passed me.

I looked to Cato, who sat back in his chair with his arms folded, and I nudged my head in his direction as I spoke, "what's your talent?"

"Modelling," he spoke cockily, a smirk present on his face, and as I looked at him I realised that I hadn't seen it since before my Games, not when he was with me at least.

My nose scrunched up in distaste, "that's not a talent."

"Yes it is," he sounded slightly defensive, and Ivy grinned as she listened to our exchange, Ellie, the name of Cato's sister which I had soon picked up on, clapped her hands happily proceeding to stick one hand in her mouth smiled as if the world were decorated in flowers.

"Any idiot can model Cato."

"Finnick Odaire does it too!"

I remained silent for a moment, my face blank for a second or so, "my point exactly."

Ivy erupted into loud fits of laughter; one of her arms flew out the give me a one shouldered hug, and remained there as she continued laughing in Cato's direction. Not understanding the situation yet loving the positive emotions in the room Ellie clapped louder, mumbling jumbled words that none of us could understand, and I watched her as she did so, finding the child so beautiful, simply because she saw the world beautiful, it was enchanting to look at.

"I like this girl!"

I cracked a small smile as Cato gave us playful glares, a small twinkle in his blue eyes was present, something that had never been present before. We shared a moment of eye contact together, a moment just like so many times before where I had felt as if I could lose time simply looking into his eyes, the tightening in my chest loosening, and suddenly feeling as if it were as light as a cloud. I still didn't know what it was, this _thing _going on between us, and I was pretty sure it confused him as well as me, especially as I had never held no romantic feelings for anyone before, I didn't even know whether this could be called romantic feelings, or whether it was just a physical attraction.

But if I tried saying that my conscious would probably tell me other wise, people who had physical attractions for each other did not feel completely empty when they were without them. Or maybe it was just my craving for human contact that made me think it was, the need for comfort and to not be alone was a huge issue in my brain, and as I continued to look into his eyes my brain went on confusing itself with my supposed feelings for the blue eyed wonder.

"Cato could you put Ellie to bed for me, please?"

He blinked a few times, his current thoughts fading away, tuning himself in back to the real word, and shook the thoughts from his head before raising from his seat, "Sure mum," lifting up Ellie, giving her a kiss on the cheek and walking out of the room.

"And tidy your room!" She yelled after him, hearing a loud groan in response, making her grin and wink at me as she rose from her seat.

I stood to help Ivy pick up the plates, following her into the kitchen as she let the tap run, the plates soaking beneath it, and she smiled softly at me for the briefest of moments, hip bumping me as she made a joke about Cato's sappiness towards his baby sister. Ivy spoke with me as if she had known me all her life, blue eyes twinkling in happiness as we had conversations about insignificant things, yet they meant a whole lot more to me, because I had never been spoken to like this, not to anyone apart from my father or Mico, and to be surrounded by it almost made me feel like I belonged somewhere.

* * *

"Thank you," I whispered as Cato walked me back to my home, breaking our silence as I stood outside my door, I hadn't realized just how much I craved human contact until tonight. The entire walk we hadn't spoken about the loose hold we had on each others hands, it felt almost natural when it came to Cato, my small hand seemed to fit perfectly within his. He shrugged, stating that it was no problem, and we stood there for a few more awkward moments, before I had finally plucked up the courage to ask him the question that had been bugging me all night.

"Where's your father?"

His eyes snapped back to mine, the emotion on his face was one I didn't understand before he let out a little sigh, "Ellie and me have different dad's, they're both dead."

"Oh … sorry," I muttered, looking down briefly, because I understood how uncomfortable it was with such a subject.

"It's not your fault, besides I didn't even know mine," he was silent for a moment as he had a thought, a bittersweet smile on his face, "come to think of it neither did Ellie … my mothers got it into her head that she's got some kinda' curse."

He scoffed at the end of his sentence, and I had the slightest feeling that maybe he had had this sort of conversation with his mother many times. My curiosity obviously peaked at the answer I had been given, but I knew when a subject had been closed, and the averted gaze of Cato hinted that very well. I squeezed his hand slightly, making him look me in the eye for a second as his hold tightened on our intertwined hands too, and although the moment was extremely inappropriate, I felt the strong urge to kiss him once more.

He cleared his throat as he continued to stand there, his next words coming out a lot quieter, "I'm uh … I'm leaving tomorrow morning … for The Capitol, you know they wanna do a couple of interviews and things to do with my _talent_ … I'll be gone for a few days."

My mouth formed the shape of an 'O', and my stomach suddenly seemed to drop, along with my chest tightening once again as I began to feel slightly nervous, the idea of Cato being so far away from me was unsettling, and I could practically hear my conscious laugh at how needy I was becoming. It had hit me then; I had become attached, I actually _needed _him now, well at least until I was comfortable enough to stand on my own feet like I once could, but even then I had Mico as some form of support if things ever turned sour. I had no one now, and Cato seemed to be the only person who cared enough to stick through the crap I put him through, and it was mostly because he really did understand, he understood my suffering, he understood the crazy mess I was and still wanted to stay.

"It's just for a few days," he reassured, taking a step closer to reinforce the truth in his statement, and I nodded, swallowing down the lump in my throat as I looked elsewhere.

"You're mother she- she's really nice."

I rubbed my eyes with one fist as I looked towards the floor, the fresh memories of Cato's beautiful mother and overly happy sister in my mind, being forced to hold her by Cato as he went to the bathroom, laughing slightly as she softly pulled on my hair and touched my face as if I were an art exhibit, and the slight feeling of loss when the laughing Ivy pried her small fingers away from my hair and out of my reach.

"Don't be upset."

"I'm not upset … I'm happy," I breathed out, going on as he looked at me in slight confusion, yet an amused smile was on his face, "you're family is just so beautiful Cato, I didn't feel like an outsider when I was I there," I choked out a laugh at my next words, the smile growing on his face as I did so, "I mean your mother hugged me like a family member when I called her son an idiot!"

"That's a good thing, it means she likes you!"

His hand tightened around mine once again for my comfort, and pulled me into a hug, my cheek resting on the top of his chest as I looked up at him, continuing on with what I had said, "I know it's just I've never known what that feels like … never."

He stared at me for a moment, his hold tightening on me, his voice becoming lower and husky, his eyes holding some form of a promise, "it's not always gonna be like this for you Faith."

I nodded, taking in a deep breath and departing from him, standing there awkwardly for another few moments as I looked at him, neither of us actually wanting to say goodbye just yet. It were almost as if he were acting on the same previous impulse as mine, his head slowly lowering, and me pushing myself onto the tips of my toes, our lips meeting in one of the softest embraces I had ever experience with him. The last two had been forceful in a way, the first out of some physical attraction in overdrive, and the second from my need to be comforted, an although this may have been a simple long peck on the lips, it felt as if so much more had been put into it. It wasn't hungry or animalistic, it was just nice. I liked nice; it was calming and different, so much softer to any other emotion I had ever felt, and if Cato was capable of making me feel that way, then whatever we held between us was definitely more than just some physical attraction.

We parted seconds after, and my cheeks felt flush as he looked at me with a small smile, coughing out a laugh as he took a few steps back, walking backwards and away from me as he continued smiling, his arms swinging back and forth like some child as he continued.

"Yeah, so ... I'll see you in a few days."

I unlocked my door, standing by it and watching him continue to walk backwards, half expecting him to trip himself over, and I couldn't help but let out a small embarrassed smile of my own, raising my voice slightly as he got further away from the door.

"You promise?"

He chuckled loudly at that, shouting to me one last time before fully turning around, "I promise Ginger!"

I ignored the offensive name and walked into my home, still smiling like some child on their birthday as thought of the evening, resting against the closed door and leaning my head back, letting out a small sigh, still feeling the tingling sensation on my lips, my fingers touching them softly as I remember what his had felt like against them. That was when I noticed it. The lights were on, every single light in the house was on, and considering I had left when it was broad daylight I knew for a fact I hadn't left any on. I walked into the living room, the cardboard box that I had left on the coffee table was now placed on the floor beside it, its entire contents spread out I onto the table.

"Who the hell are you?"

I glared at the little woman who sat on the couch, going through the photos that I had placed inside the box; I guessed in an instant that she was a Capitol member, as if her dark purple hair wasn't a hint enough, cut to her chin. She wore dark purple trousers, a matching blazer to go with it, and a cream blouse underneath. Her head rose slowly, as if she were anticipating my hostile words, a sickeningly sweet grin was on her face, and as she placed the photos on the coffee table she stood, dusting off the back of her trousers and extending her hand for me to shake. I stared at it for several moments, my glare still fixed on my face as she eventually gathered that I wasn't going to shake it.

"Yes … well … I'm Catalina Break."

"Get out."

I walked towards the coffee table and begun to stack the photos back up, shoving them into the cardboard box and placing back onto the table once again. I may have come across to her as hostile, but truth me told I was having a heart attack inside at the Capitol official being inside my home, especially as I didn't know what her motives were to being here, but from the smirk she held on her face I could already tell it would be bad news for me.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Miss Willows."

"And why's that?" I asked sarcastically, turning around to look at her, her purple lips pressed into a thin line, her face blank.

"I work for President Snow Miss Willows."

My mouth had snapped closed, that mans name was like taboo around every victor, especially when used in that form of context, no one wanted to hear that after they had just won a games of a fight to the death, I was already trying to forget it happened in the first place, and as my body tensed up in slight fear she knew that she now had my attention. She smirked then, motioning for me to take a seat opposite, and I did so cautiously, keeping my eyes on her and she pulled out a briefcase, opening it up on the table and pulling out a few sheets, flicking through them as she speaks.

"President Snow and I understand you've been having a difficult time, and he offers his condolences."

"I'm sure he does," I muttered, ignoring the pointed look she gives me before she went back to her sheets. We both knew there was no sincerity in that statement, it was more of a gloat from him that he had easily taken away the most important person in my life, and as that thought passed my mind a jolt of pain went through my chest, a small taste of what all the pain had felt like when I first found Mico. Not wanting to divulge in those memories once more I shook them out of my head, opting for a question that would drive away from the subject of my games.

"How did you even get in here?"

She behaved as if I hadn't even spoken, flat out ignoring me and softly humming as she sifted through certain papers and read through them, clearing her throat when she looked back to me, her face void of any emotion, purple hair perfectly curled as if she had just had it done.

"Mr. Snow and I understand that you possess a particularly impressive set of skills, and have discovered that you are quite the catch."

I rested my chin in my hand, my heart beat speeding up as I thought of what Snow could have possibly told her about me, and if he had told her a certain amount, it made me question just _how_ much she knew. She shuffled a form towards me on the table, a pen along with it, looking at me expectantly, as if I already knew what I was signing, and I looked at her for the longest time before she spoke steadily, her teeth slightly gritted together.

"That is a form Miss Willows."

"_Yes,_ I am aware of that." I seethed, wanting to push her a little more, my old habits once again kicking in, I guess I missed them since I hadn't had anyone to use them in a while, and clearing her throat she looked at me with narrowed eyes, her voice flat and professional.

"Miss Willows I am the head of a very confidential organisation in The Capitol, we recruit only the most talented of people for this job."

"Which is..?"

"As a government official Mr. Snow has many enemies and trouble makers, which I'm sure you are aware of … and as one of our recruited members Miss Willows you would take care of said people in the most discreet way."

My eyes widened slightly at what she was hinting at, especially at what she was possibly asking me, seeing as I was branded the most recent 'mental case' out of all the victor I was surprised Snow would even bother with me until he personally thought I was mentally stable enough for such a job, not that I would ever agree ofcourse, after all I'd heard rumours of Snow forcing victors into jobs such as these, but that's all I thought they were; rumours.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you asking me to work as a _female escort_?"

"Of course not Miss Willows!"

Catalina Break cackled, it sounded as if it were a cross breed between a dying cat and howling dog, but maybe it was just a habit of all the Capitol people, seeing as even Karina laughed like that, I almost wanted to covers my ears in fear of her causing them to bleed. She calmed down, looking back at me as her grin turned into one of a smirk, one that created chills down the back of my spine, she looked more than smug with herself, as if she were enjoying my uncomfortable behavior and was excited for whatever was to come.

"We would like you to join an assassination squad."

And right about then was when my jaw dropped.

* * *

**Same chapter, but basically HEAVILY revised... was looking back at it and thinking it was SO BADLY WRITTEN! SORRY EVERYONE!**

**Before I forget like in my last AN .. ALEXANDER LUDWIG TOTALLY TWEETED ME! Sooooooooooooooo … I have nothing to say other than that haha … but yep I should be updating this week … if I can! No promises because I have another exam soon! So yep … big big things are coming! But after exams I think I might revisit this chapter, and re do it! So keep a look out!**

**Alwaysamarauder16: Awww thanks! And yep not really much romance … it's more of just an unaware attraction at this point! And really? Ha thank you, I sometimes write stuff and think … nahhh this is too predictable! **

**Nelle07: Yes! Thank you! I think it's such an important point to show the struggles of what they go through after their games because in the books you don't really get to experience it properly!**

**Thetridentinfinnickspants: really? Well I'm glad you did like it! And thank you! It took me AGES because it was so hard! Thanks for reviewing again!**

**HermoineandMarcus: Thank you and I will!"**

**Wearethelight: Keybash away! I totally do it! And haha nothing wrong with having no emotion, defo makes things a lot easier! But I'm glad you felt something deep in this chapter! :3 I'm glad it did! **

**Hazu23: Thank you! And I'm glad you can, I wanted to make it show just how hard it can be! **

**AwaitingHogwartsLetter: Thank you! I love Annie too! She's totally awesome! And Katniss is later on in the story, and depending on which district wins in the next games it'll depend Definitely! I think Dumbledore will totally send Hagrid to come and get us too! Ha, thanks for reviewing!**

**Kiralol101: It would scare the shite out of me if I was seeing Mico around after he died, that would freak me out completely! Yeah, I think she really needed to go insane for a while, she was in slight denial with Mico's room, and definitely needed a blunt wake up call! And You'll see whats next thanks for reviewing!**

**Geranium08: So have you seen it? And if so did ya like it? Ha, I'm so proud to say this … Idris Elba totally used to live in my area, he worked at Dagenham Motors haha, it's in essex over here in England! I feel so proud that he's come this far! DW I'm excited as hell too for the rebellion, I have so many ideas for that! It's gonna be so awesome! Thank you for reviewing :D **

**Dreamsnhugs: Ha, I went overboard with the whole creep factor! And thank you for thinking so! I hope you like this one too! Thanks again for reviewing!**

**A: thank you!**

**PeppermintAmortentia: Thank you so much! It's lovely of you to say and Yeah I get you! I love him too *swoons* **

**AlexShah: I know, I got a bit cringey when I was writing the lullaby part, I was thinking well … I think I'm gonna traumatise the readers! Thank you, I'll miss him too from now on! And thank you, I hope you like this one! **

**Bbymojo: You're welcome, and yeah she's starting to realize now! And I knowwww, at least they won other awards!**

**Raynacch SilverMoon: Dw I understand, I do that a lot too when I'm writing out a chapter and have to reword an entire sentence ha! And I'm glad it made up for it, I realized what it looked like after, but I already had the next chapter planned so I was hoping that people would just bare with me if they didn't like it. And you did! So thank you for that! And thanks, I don't think Cato's pain for the loss of Clove is ever exposed enough, because they did genuinely seem close in the book!**

**Luli Cullen: Thanks, and hope you like it! X**

**Saiyanprincess711: Thank you so much and its lovely to know that you will be and yep it's great knowing that someone is there to pull her out of insanity, poor Annie Cresta had already turned insane before she left the arena!**

**SingingInTheRain: Makes her seem human I guess haha and I'd like to have the whole 'insanity' thing come in from time to time … like something triggers it off, because I don't think she'll ever be completely level headed again. And thank you, hope you like this chapter!**

**Saaarah: I totally grinned like some Cheshire cat when I read your review, it made me really happy! So thank you! Anddddd I'm glad you think so, I think too think the demons of her mind are more fearful than real monsters, because monsters and mutations were something she had some form of control over, and we all know that humans fear what they can't control, her nightmares and demons being just that! And thank you, I just trying to add in every little detail as much as possible to make it feel real, I don't like being too vague about anything, because then you can't imagine things as much while reading! And THANK YOU SO MUCH! If I ever have a book published I'll think about what you said! **

**X: Thank you, I'm glad you think so and I try not to make it all rushed! Thanks for reviewing :D **


	22. Trigger

"_Take A Breath Take It Deep, Calm Yourself He Says To Me, If You Play You Play For Keeps, Take The Gun And Count To Three. And You Can See My Heart Beating, You Can See It Through My Chest, That I'm Terrified But I'm Not Leaving, I Known That I Must Pass This Test, So Just Pull The Trigger." – Rihanna; Russian Roulette._

* * *

The room was eerily silent as I tried to comprehend what she had just said, and that if she had meant what I thought she meant then she truly was crazy. I ran a hand through my hair, letting out a small disbelieving laugh, her face extremely passive and hands resting on her knees, awaiting my reply.

"You're ridiculous … insane actually, to think I would consider such a thing."

Miss Break cleared her throat, eyes narrowing for the briefest of moments at my insult, there was no force on this earth that could ever convince me to do such a thing. I sat back in my chair and crossed my legs, arms folded, because boy, I really wanted to hear this. I honestly couldn't think of who was crazier, either Snow for even thinking of such a ridiculous plan, or this woman right her to bother making the journey here and ask me.

I was labelled as a mental case for the next few months, in every magazine or news paper I saw it had some sort of headline claiming that very fact, or the odd few times I bothered watching TV and show hosts would speak of the Games it would come up one way or another. I knew eventually it would die down, probably in time for the victory tour where they saw me more stable, and I thought I could hold off any form of contact with Snow until then; I didn't see him approaching Cato for any sort of job. Apart from that boys _modelling _career he was bouncing between his home or the training academy, it was his way of clearing his mind from any stressful thoughts; teaching children how to kill each other, each to their own.

"Make no mistake Miss Willows; although the proposal may seem outrageous, we have created quite a compensation for said proposal."

"Enlighten me."

"As every victor requires some form of a talent, this would be taken cared of," I almost felt the urge to laugh, in exchange for killing government officials I would not have to take part in having a _talent, _Capitol people really were stupid.

"And of course immunity to your children from the lottery of The Hunger Games in the future."

"And what makes you think I'll ever have children?"

A smirk grew on her superficial features, like teenager who was about to spill the secret of her most hated enemy, knowing that it would spread like wildfire across the playground, and at the time it would feel like the end of the world for that very enemy. I didn't like the way she was looking at me, she may have been a small woman but it didn't destroy her intimidating aura in the slightest, her eyes alone made the hairs stand up in the back of my neck, and make my skin prickle like a chilled wind had blew past me.

"Considering the nature of yours and Mr. Valentine's relationship I assumed that in the future you would."

I was taken back by her reply, this woman who I had never met in my entire life, seemed to have every inch of my life memorised in my head, by some petty little yellow folder containing papers of information on me. What was worse is that she had taken a step further and had basically sketched out her idea of my future, when I didn't even know what was held for me, and I didn't like it.

"Excuse me? No! Me and _Mr. Valentine _do not hold an-," I cut myself off, realisation dawning on me half way through my attempt to deny her accusation at me, and my eyes looked to her accusingly as her smirk grew, "you've been watching me."

The second I had left the arena they had been keeping an eye on me, either with spies or rigged cameras in every single corner of the District, including my own home, I wasn't safe anywhere I went, they would always be watching my every move, and I was stupid for not realizing it before. I suddenly felt claustrophobic, as if I were surrounded by a number of people, people who enjoyed ripping my life apart, with the thought of Snow watching how I reacted to this right now in my head, I couldn't help but fidget uncomfortably in the couch in I sat in. It felt as if he were physically there breathing down my neck, whispering threatening words, words that could so easily break my already fragile mind, words that would destroy me once more in a matter of seconds.

"Here's the thing Miss Break," I sat up, leaning forward and placing my palms together for emphasis on my words, "Not that I would ever say yes to this proposition, but considering the deaths that I have witnessed and caused in the past months … I am in no state to go around killing more people."

She didn't seem to be paying my attention to my words to begin with, for she had been collecting her files and placing them back in her briefcase, leaving the agreement form in front of me, nodding as if she understood every word as she went. She looked at me several seconds later after I had finished, dusting off her hands slightly and letting out a sigh, smiling and standing.

"I understand that this is quite a lot to take in Miss Willows, which is why Mr. Snow suggested that we should leave you be for a few days before contacting you once more."

I stood up with her as she walked past me, my patience wearing thin as she wasn't listening to a word I said, my protests against the job were flying straight over her head. Following her out of the living room and down the long hallway of my home, she even began to hum some unrecognisable tune as I continued to rant about the absurdity of her request, and when she finally stopped at the front door, turning around to face me with that chilling smile I bit my lip in slight worry.

"You have a very rare gift, and Mr. Snow would be much discomforted to know that it's going to waste," she paused for a moment, her lips pressing together in a thin line, "and Mr. Snow wouldn't want to see anyone hurt from your wasted gift."

"Are you threatening me?"

She grabbed the handle, opening the door softly, and stepping into the cool night air of District Two she turned around once more, the moonlight shining on her lilac skin making her look twice as bizarre, yet even then she still held an intimidating presence.

"We'll be in touch, have a good evening Miss. Willows."

And with those final parting words she closed the door behind her, disappearing into the night, leaving me to bask in the silence of my home alone, and the feeling of it felt so familiar and normal that I almost felt like she were never here at all. Her words drilling themselves into my head deeply and the fact that she hadn't answered my last question to begin with already had me on edge, my nerves itching at me to panic, but if I did that nothing would be solved.

I would obviously fight tooth and nail against this, but I had to ask myself if in the end whether it would pay off or not, and if Snow's words meant what I thought they meant, and then he would hurt anyone associated with me until I gave in. Meaning Cato, and possibly his family would end up severely hurt or even dead if Snow deemed it necessary, there were no boundaries to what that man would do to achieve his goals. I was stuck, there was no positive way out of this for me; because I could to flat out refuse to do anything for Snow, losing Cato in the process and along with him went any mental stability I still had, or I could agree and still lose my mental stability at having to break someone's neck for a living, which I sure as hell wouldn't be able to do for the rest of my life.

I couldn't believe there was even room for consideration in something such as this, it should have been easy, it should have been more than simple for me to feel nothing but confidence when I said no, because I shouldn't have anyone else's life to fear for. I barely even knew Ivy, yet I still couldn't bring myself to think of anything happening to her or Ellie for the simple fact that they had no part in this, they were innocent people, and it would destroy Cato to pieces if he ever lost his only family.

What was I going to do? The thought of briefing Cato about this passed through my head, but even I knew that he his answer would be a sure and hard headed no, I couldn't put him in such a difficult position anyway, and it wasn't fair when I knew what was at stake for him. I ran a hand through my tangled hair, switching the light off in the hallway and making my way up the stairs, knowing that sleep wouldn't come to me any time soon, yet at the same time I was hoping it would give me some peace for a little while, and hopefully I would wake up with some solution. Either that or I could wake up and realise that this had all been a dream; I wanted to laugh at my wishful thinking, if only things were that easy.

* * *

The next two days I spent holed up in my home like some animal in hibernation, trying to think some way out of my predicament, yet I only seemed to be going in circles. I felt completely on edge, jumping whenever the phone rang, refusing to pick it up out of the fear of it being Snow or one of his minions, I'd rather avoid them for as long as I could then have to face up to it anytime soon.

Pulling up my messy hair into a bun I ignored the phone once more, wanting to pull it out of his socket just to stop the ridiculous tone from giving me a headache, I hated fearing something as silly as a phone call. The thought of hearing Snow's unnaturally calm voice and demanding me in a polite manner to oblige to his request terrified me as much as my nightmares did, because this was real life, this was actually happening, my nightmares could only ruin me in my sleep, yet Snow seemed to be going for the gold medal in completely destroying me.

He'd probably gone years without highly trained assassins, killing people who jeopardised his position as a president, so I was more than sure he could continue to do so now, he was only doing this because he knew it would have some psychological effect on me. My mind was mess, confusing itself through a labyrinth of questions, only to end up right at the beginning again, trying to work a new way to the end of the labyrinth, only it didn't feel as if there was any end, it was just a circle. I was trying so hard to think of a solution, I needed to let myself relax, and in the words of Cato _breathe_, which was why I decided that right then was perfect for an afternoon walk.

I shoved on my combat boots, tying the laces sloppily, before pulling on my black hoody and exiting my empty home. I instantly felt a little relieved as I felt the sun caress my skin, imagining it feeling twice as good once I had reached near the mountains, a soft breeze touching me softly like cotton. As I began walking down the empty street of the victor's village, I finally began to wonder about the other victors, attempting to guess just how many there were here in District Two. The only victor other than Cato that I had even gotten a glimpse of was Enobaria, although she didn't seem to pleased with human contact, she sneered at me for a brief few seconds as she was entering her home. Safe to say that I made sure never to cross paths with her again, she was rather terrifying, and even though Cato had persisted she was a lot calmer once you got to know her; I begged to differ.

I tucked my hands into my pockets, keeping my head cast down as I approached the towns square, the birthplace of where tributes volunteered, and exactly opposite it stood the ever large training academy, treated as a temple to those who wished for nothing but the honour of being chosen to volunteer. I stopped in my walk, standing there still, in the midst of all the citizens' chatter and I managed to tune it out, thinking of when I had left that very building at the age of sixteen. The disappointed and judgmental faces of every instructor, their protests about a waste of talent, a potential victor and I was throwing it away, I wanted to laugh at how ironically similar those words were now.

I also remember the entrance celebration that I attended for Mico, it was mandatory for a parent or carer of each student to join the instructors in welcoming the students into the academy, giving a small speech on the promise of our children becoming the best that they could all be. I put up a mental wall of that memory, stopping it from going any further, because I really didn't want to burst into tears right in the middle of the towns square, people thought I was a nutcase as it was. It was just simply impossible to not think about him, being part of such a large portion of my life, and not regretting any moment with him, I found myself wanting to remember him, yet every time I did my heart seemed to clench up just as much as he did before.

"Faith," I turned around to see a matt of raven hair, and instantly I knew who it belonged to, Ivy looked rather flustered, with Ellie held in one arm against her hip, and picnic basket full of groceries in the other.

She attempted to wave at me, although it looked to be a rather difficult task, and was making her way towards me. I waved back awkwardly, before my hands buried themselves back into my pockets, walking towards her and meeting her halfway. She looked as if she had come from the direction of the market, probably on her way home from a day of shopping; she greeted me warmly, along with the most adorable gurgle as one of her hands reached out.

"How are you?" she sounded out of breath, setting down the basket as she pushed Ellie back up her hip, giving me a loose one armed hug.

"Fine, uhh- did you need help?"

"If you don't mind," I reached out to grab the basket, only to be handed Ellie, who pulled on the loose strands on my hair as if it were her new toy, I smiled at her before looking back to Ivy, who picked up the basket once more.

"It's no problem at all."

"Thank you; it's always hectic shopping when I have Ellie."

I nodded in understanding, walking beside her back to the victor's village, leaving the walk to the mountains for another day, Ivy's bubbling personality and warm aura was exactly what I needed at this current time. I listened to her silently; as she spoke of little things such as the mess of Cato's bedroom, or his inability to pack his clothes neatly, and that she had had to do it for him the night before he left. I held back my laughter at the image, never guessing in a million years that Cato would have been a mummy's boy. I could imagine him denying it like it was an offensive comment, no doubt feeling emasculated by the idea of it, leading me to wonder what he was possibly up to at this current time.

"You miss him don't you?"

I turned to Ivy, my cheeks turning pink at such a question coming from his mother, and for a moment I was tongue tied as I attempted to calm the surge of butterflies within my stomach. I stuttered a couple of times, the grin on Ivy's face widened as she watched my reaction, and Ellie mumbling inaudible words with her chubby fingers in-between her mouth.

"I- well I-" Ivy began laughing at my incapability to speak, and in turn I began to laugh a little quietly myself, eventually letting my laughter become a little louder, a bit of the burden I had felt previously lifted from my shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"There's nothing wrong with it honey, you two have become fairly close in the last few months."

"Mhm," I mumbled, still feeling slightly embarrassed at the conversation I was having with her, it wasn't everyday I spoke about my feelings in that with someone, let alone Cato's mother.

"Well he did say he'll be back tomorrow afternoon. Which reminds me he told me to tell you to 'pick up the damn phone'," she motioned quotation marks with her fingers at the end of her sentence, and I rolled my eyes at the image of Cato nagging me once I did pick up the phone.

I couldn't complain of course, I was glad he bothered to call that much to speak to me, and it relaxed me even more to know that it wasn't Snow calling. I went back to how many times my phone had rung since he left, and if every single call was from Cato, then he must have thought I was dead or something, considering the amount of times I had ignored each call. I made a mental note to apologise to him when he returned, since it was a little inconsiderate of me.

Upon reaching Ivy's front door I followed her in, listening to her instructions I placed Ellie in her playing pen, ruffling her short black hair softly as she grabbed onto one of her many toys, finding its home within her mouth. I stood in the living room awkwardly, my hands wringing themselves together as I watched Ivy shuffle back and forth towards the kitchen, waiting for her to finish unpacking her shopping.

"Would you like to stay for lunch Faith?"

"Uhm, if it's alright with you," I spoke raising my voice, as she yelled back a reply from the kitchen.

"Of course it is! Just make yourself at home and I'll get you a drink, is juice okay?"

"Yes, thank you."

I sat down on one of the cream couches, occasionally looking over to Ellie, who seemed to be tiring of her playing, her arms no longer flinging about, and her head lulling slightly, I watched amusedly and waited for her to finally stop resisting the urge to sleep and give in. By the time Ivy had placed a large bowl of pasta out on the table Ellie was fast asleep, I sat beside Ivy as she propped on leg up on the chair she sat on, her arm resting on her knee as she poured herself a glass of red wine. I shook my head as she offered me some, receiving a little chuckle out of her, and she poured me a glass regardless of my refusal.

"Come on Faith, you need to unwind a little!"

"It's not that it's just I've never really had any," my cheeks flushed once more in embarrassment, I'd never taken to drinking alcohol, I'd seen a lot of people in the district stumble out of a bar in the early hours of the morning, usually when I was covering an early shift at the factory, and watched them spill out the entire contents of their previous evening out of their mouths.

It put me off a little, though the idea of it didn't seem to bother Ivy, she rose her eyebrows at me, and pushed the glass further in my direction, waiting for me to take a sip. Slowly and unsurely I picked up the glass, the cold texture pressing against my lips, and as I tasted the maroon liquid I winced slightly at the bitter taste, putting the glass back down as my nose scrunched up in disgust.

"It grows on you," Ivy laughed out, taking a sip of her own before setting the glass down, putting clumps of pasta onto my plate, beginning a story of the first time she ever tried alcohol, and how it had ended in disaster, her story making me laugh harder than I ever had in months; Ivy Valentine truly was a breath of fresh air.

I had sat at Ivy's for several hours and with someone as easy going as her it was fairly difficult to refuse her every time she offered me another glass, from there everything seemed to go pretty smoothly with her, we left the dinner table to take a seat in the living room. And with the glasses of wine I kept having I appeared to be laughing a lot more than what was normal of me, along with speaking too much, yet I couldn't seem to stop myself, Ivy finding me just as funny as I did her.

"You should have seen Cato's face when I told him he had a receding hairline," Ivy's laughter increased, and the now awake Ellie bounced happily in her playpen, clapping and laughing to herself.

"He must have thought the world was ending!" Ivy breathed out in between her laughter, her hair now loose from its ponytail completely, and rested her head on my shoulder as I sat back.

I nodded in agreement, sniggering as I pictured his face the very first time I ever made a comment on it, "he looked horrified, like I had violated him … it was so funny!"

I finished my glass as Ivy continued laughing, and I had to keep myself from spitting my drink out as I held in my own laughter, thinking for only a moment how bleak this day had turned out, only for it to turn upside down and end on a good note.

"You want another glass?"

I nodded in reply to her question, neither of us hearing the front door close as she poured herself a cup after mine, the bottle nearly finishing, I knew I would have to stop soon, because I sure as hell didn't want to turn out being one of those people who couldn't handle the amount they consumed and passed out in the street.

"Did I ever tell you that Cato wore diapers until he was five?"

I choked on my drink, the liquid spilling down my chin as we both erupted into loud fits of laughter, my stomach hurting at the mere idea of Cato in a diaper at all, I bent over as I continued laughing, thinking that stories like this were just too good to not use against Cato.

"Thanks mother, I'm glad you enjoy sharing stories like that."

My head snapped to my left, green eyes connecting with icy blue at the doorway, and I grinned at the six foot victor, my smile larger than it should have been, who stared back with an eyebrow rose at both I and his mother. His arms folded across his chest, accenting his large biceps in the white polo shirt he wore, his hair perfect as if his prep team had only just fixed him up.

"Honey, you're home early!"

Ivy stood, placing her glass down on the mahogany coffee table, and stretched her arms, Cato's large form engulfing her in a hug, when he released her he held onto her forearms, a rather amused smirk set on his features.

"Well I finished early, so I thought I'd surprise you … although the both of you seem to be having a good enough time without me."

I stood up myself, wavering slightly on my legs, and Ivy laughed at me while Cato watched me with a sceptical look, and abandoning my glass on the table next to Ivy's, I walked towards him in quick strides and wrapped my arms around his waist, my head burying into his chest.

"I'm guessing you have her too much to drink?"

"Oh, don't look at me like that! Look how relaxed she is now."

"I appreciate it mother, I really do … but who do you suppose is gonna walk her home now while she stumbles to her door?"

Ivy whacked him upside the head, and he recoiled slightly from it, as I slowly released my hold on him he looked down to me, his arm wrapping around my shoulders and holding me in place, we smiled at each other for a few minutes, the memory of our last kiss still new in my mind.

"I'm gonna start dinner, so you can give your little sister a change and Faith honey you can help yourself to another glass."

"Oh, no she won't."

Cato retorted with sternness in his voice, and Ivy winked at me as she left the living room and down the hall to the kitchen, I eventually let go of Cato, and moved to sit back on the couch, my elbows resting on both knees with my chin in the palms of my hand. I watched him as he gathered Ellie in his arms, a large grin on his face as she could barely fit her small arms around his neck in a hug.

"Did you miss me?" he asked her as she giggled, his eyes connecting with mine once more, and I could have sworn the both of us could hear my heart beat speed up at an alarming rate, my stomach doing back flips, making me realise just how truly happy I was to have him back, after only two days without him.

"More than you know," I whispered to myself, though apart of me hoped he could hear my words, and when his smile grew just that little bit more as he left with Ellie, I was positive he did.

* * *

**So, the answer for whether she agrees with the assassination thing is in the next chapter hopefully! :D Andd to answer everyones question I tweeted him telling him he needed to show his UK fans some love, and then he replied with 'I love the UK' … and then I had a heart attack! HAHA!**

**Anyways I know in terms of plot things are going a little slow, but Faith's in them middle of a transition of herself, she's changing and growing up a little I guess, a long with her head being very messed up and trying to deal with it. Btw I don' think I'll be updating next weekend, as I have my year 13 prom on Friday, and my exam on Wednesday so think I'll just be recovering on the weekend XD but I'll update twice the week after!**

**REPLIES:**

**KnucklePuck29: I'm sorry I thought I replied to this in the last chapter, and when I was revising it I realised I hadn't! So I', replying in this one! Thank you for your kind words on Faith, coming from an author who I'm a fan of myself it makes me fan girl quite a lot! And thank you for that, it took me ages to decide on what would be a clever quarter quell to replace the one from CF! Oh the rebellion and mentoring is just … ahhhh I can't wait, things are gonna become INSANE! Haha thank you for reviewing, it means a lot and I can't wait for your own chapter update!**

**Luli Cullen: Thank you! And to answer your question no he's not, but aha yes modelling sounds tooooo ridiculous for Cato, which is why another shocker will be coming with him!**

**Geranium08: I know! I did NOT expect David to do that to Charlie! It was soooo sly but I still loved David, Michael Fassbender played him so wonderfully! And thank you, hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Tori.m: Thank you! And yep I wanted to show that he had a positive home life, I love writing his mother, and she's so much fun!**

**HermoineAndMarcus: Thank you, and I will!**

**Hazu123: Yep, she definitely doesn't like it, though poor Faith doesn't seem to have much of a choice! Thanks for reviewing!**

**PeppermintAmortentia: Hhaha yep, it's such a contradiction to his persona, but there is character depth to it, which is coming soon! Thanks for reviewing hun!**

**Kiralol101: I replying to both your reviews in this one haha, first off thanks for the second, it was great to have feedback on the newer and better written chapter! Helps a lot! I love writing Cato's mum, I wanted him to have a good home life, but which contained certain events to make him the way he is, and Snows up to a lot … which isn't surprising! Yep, slowly seeping in district 13 and the rebellion into it ;) Haha thank you again so much for both of your reviews!**

**Nelle07: Haha definitely, it's going to mess her up a whole of a lot more if she goes through with it! Thank you for reviewing! **

**C0nt0rt3dM1nd: Haha! "mum", it feels weird when I type it coz I know a majority of my readers are American, but its just the way we brits spell it! I love her too! She's just so awesome! And when I thought up assassination the image of Scatlett Johanson in Iron Man came into my head! All cool and sexy and stuff! Thanks for the review!**

**DrMoustachioGirl: Hahaha there's nothing wrong with that, I do it all the time!**

**AlwaysAmarauder16: Same, I'd take pretty much ANYTHING over escorting! And I dunno when I thought of it the idea of her being some super assassin looked so cool I my head, but does nothing for her mental stability. And Hmmmm you shall see! I laughed myself at the modelling comment, I needed to add some of their old banter back in to show she was getting better. Thanks for reviewing darling :D **

**AlexShah: Thank you! And I know she's so cute, if she was real I'd totally cuddle her! Haha! And yay that was my plan! I couldn't wait to reveal that, and yes hopefully! Thank you for reviewing xx**

**Bbymojo: Thank you, no I knew if I was going to have her forced into a 'secret job' that it definitely wasn't going to be a Finnick Odaire, that poor guy! Yeah I can imagine her switching her emotions off too to pull of jobs like that, other wise she'd end up much more worse than Annie Cresta! Things will get pretty crazy soon ;)**

**The-trident-in-finnicks-pants: :O ALthought I'm thrilled you love my stories that much, don't let it get in the way of your studies! They mean a lot for the future! And you do philosophy? Whats it like? And thank you, thatmeans so much! Hope u like this chapter!**

**WhiteDaisyJune: Thank you so much, it makes me so happy to know my readers love it that much! And Yes I am, I wont lie I haven't read EVERY book, But I've read a few and seen all the movies, so I'm a fairly big fan! **

**FYINichole: I understand why some writers make his family home a negative place, but for me I wanted to show the reasons why he would want to come home so badly, and who he has to take care of etc. etc. Haa that would have been cute, but I don't think he would be aloud to!**

**SaiyanPrincess711: Hows the writing going hun? And yeah I love his mother; I'm saying it like she's a real person! Haha, and yeah I think she found it funny more than anything, because of how contradicting it was. And yeah I think she would be a pretty good assassin, though it'll mess her up in the long run. **

**Justapersonwithapony: It's fine! Don't worry I understand life can get busy! Even more of a look into his family life here, and you have more! I'm glad you liked the chapter, and haha I totally freaked out when he replied! Thanks for reviewing hun!**

**Taybaybay: Awww welcome new reader! I've done that so many times where I literally cannot remove myself from my laptop because I loved a story so much! Thank you again, I really appreciate your lovely words! :D**

**Austen2gaskell: I grinned a hell of a lot when I found your two part review, and I'm glad it evoked those emotions from you as I aimed for that reaction, although I am sorry you cried at Mico's chapter! And yes don't worry, I was planning on doing another Cato chapter in the future, after my exams are finished I plan on going crazy with the amount of chapters I upload! And as for the assassination thing, I don't think she has much of a choice in terms of accepting or not, as either of them both have negative consequences with either choices, so it's sort of a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils, even if she isn't happy with neither of them! And don't be silly its fine to have suggestions from readers, because I take them all into account and do use them at some point in my story, so the bromance thing is noted down! And THANK YOU :3 It's so awesome that you think that, I hope you like this chapter and thank you for your constrictive criticism! **

**Wearethelight: Ha, it's cool! I still love ya :3 And yeah I really wanted him to have a good home life, to make him the hard and protective person he is, (regarding himself and his personal life) lmao, it's ironic because when I was looking through those Abercrombie photos I was like T_T OMFG WOW. And thanksss :D hope you like it! You're more than welcome for the help btw, always happy too! **

**AwaitingHogwartsLetter: It's all good! And thank you :D I love writing about his family, it's just so cute and laughable! And thanks, the assassination twist has actually been so popular, I didn't expect it to be, I just wanted to shock people haha! Don't worry apart from next weekend I plan to go back to my habbit of updating really quick! And yes, we've waited like 8 years for our letter, it's getting unfair now! ;)**

**NeonLover: Thank you new reader, I loved reading your review, because of how passionate you were about the story! It means so much and I hope you continue to love the story as much as you do now! **


	23. Bombs

"_This Is The Part Of Me That You're Never Gonna Ever Take Away From Me, Throw Your Sticks And Stones, Throw Your Bombs And Your Blows, But You're Not Gonna Break My Soul. This Is The Part Of Me That You're Never Gonna Ever Take Away From Me." – Katy Perry; Part Of Me._

* * *

The last time I had been in The Capitol there hadn't been any time to exactly site see, since I was preparing for my imminent death, yet here I was standing between crowds of ridiculously dressed people, bright colours clashing everywhere. The amount of skyscrapers located in The Capitol all looked the same to me if I was perfectly honest, however the certain building I was standing in front of today was of a significant importance, as this certain building was home to one of the biggest tabloid papers in Panem, only it couldn't really be considered a good thing.

Although what most of what they printed was usually untrue, their supposed next story seemed to unsettle certain people largely, and the CEO of said company seemed rather fearless of the possible threats and dangers that could ensue should he go ahead with the story. It basically was set to expose the coincidences of how similar each government official in the last ten years had died similarly, and how Snow seemed to be the only one who hadn't even fallen sick in his old life.

"_This is an easy one. You get in, do the job and leave…"_

I tried not to scratch my scalp, irritated by the large and ludicrous bright orange wig that sat atop of my head, along with a matching dress and heels, I felt as if I could not be more humiliated that I ever could at this moment. Somehow I had managed to not be recognised by any Capitol citizen since stepping out of my hotel dressed like this, the aim of my disguise this far, I just hoped that I wouldn't jinx myself. I took a deep breath, attempting to calm my ever growing nerves, reminding myself of just why I agreed to do this, remembering the words that had been spoken to me on how I needed to switch off for jobs such as this if I wanted to succeed.

I plastered a fake smile onto my face, practically skipping through the revolving glass doors of the building, raising the fake verification ID I had been given, scanning it through the barriers leading to the stairwell and elevators of the building, the ground floor alive with buzzing phone calls of over enthusiastic voices of the Capitol members who worked in the building. I took my place in the cramped elevator, pressing the button just below the top floor, from my readings of the file I had been given the entire top floor of the building belonged to the CEO Mac Supreme, and had restricted it completely, the highest security on every corner.

I didn't understand how this was supposedly easy, cameras were covered at every corner of this place, and with someone like me attempting to keep calm something was bound to go wrong. The elevator had slowly emptied out as the levels progressed, and when finally reaching the thirtieth floor I was left with two other women, who chatted excitedly for the up and coming games, both wondering how it would match the two arenas from my year, I gritted my teeth angrily at their complete idiocy and insensitivity towards such a subject. Then again when it came to Capitol people I couldn't expect anything less, they had seventy five years to get used to such a concept in a game show, and as I followed them out of the elevator and down the hallway I kept my mouth firmly shut. The floor consisted of glass doors to each office, making every room completely visible, the sounds of the office just as loud and alive as the ground floors reception, people rushing about attempting to reach their deadline tonight; as the paper was being printed tomorrow.

"_The point of this job will be to send out a message, but you must avoid being seen."_

I took a left down the hall leading away from the offices, walking into the women's bathroom and locking the door behind me, pulling on the handle to make sure it wouldn't be budged open. Pulling up the sleeve of my bright orange dress I looked at the imprinted directions on my left wrist, looking down the long hallway of the extravagant bathroom. Double sided sinks were located through the centre of the bathroom, extending all the way down to the end of the hall, cream cubicles on both sides of the walls, matching the marble flooring and sinks, making it look as if it belonged in Snows mansion rather than a newspaper industry.

I looked at my wrist for a moment and then back towards the cubicles, counting down the ones on the left side before picking one right in the centre, and once inside I pulled the toilet lid shut. Pulling off the wig I felt as if my scalp could finally breathe, my auburn hair falling loosely down my shoulders. I pulled it into a low tight bun, leaving no stray strands to get in the way. Wriggling out of the orange frilly dress I had on I folded it and placed it on the seat, kicking off the heels along with it, revealing the thick black belt wrapped around my waist a number of pouches attached to it, luckily for me the dress had covered this pretty well.

Unclipping it from my waist I pulled off one of the two pouches, unzipping it to pull out the thin black material of my all in one suit, not the best clothing to walk around it,n but light enough to easily move around in and slip past people. I pulled my legs through it, slipping my hands through the long sleeves and zipping it up to my collar bone, readjusting the belt back onto my waist, I undid the second pouch to check I had the tools I needed, avoiding the thought that my father was probably rolling in his grave right now at what I was about to do.

I stood on top of the toilet seat, reaching up to the venting system above me and pulling the lid off, and placed it down on the floor, proceeding to pull my self up and into the venting pipe, not that it was wide enough for me to sit comfortably in, but enough so that I could move around in.

"_Once in the map imprinted onto your wrist will guide you through the venting system, it should take no less than six minutes to reach the floor above."_

Pulling up my sleeve I looked over the map, consisting on a bunch of thick black lines, which could be considered practically useless, luckily for me I had spent most of my time figuring out the directions of the map than I did the actual target. I began crawling forward through the venting, aware that a couple of meters down I would have to begin climbing upwards onto the floor above, and that I knew would not be an easy fort. Snow could try all he wanted to make me crack, to destroy me to pieces, and even if he eventually did, I was in no way going to let him know that he had succeeded, there was always going to be apart of me that he could neither have nor break, the part of me that I was going to keep until the end of my days; that was my heart.

"_His office is located in the centre of the floor, glass doors and walls surround it, he'll have a guard at every corner of the office, all placed directly below a surveillance camera. You must find a way to obstruct both the cameras and the guard's visions, only then will it become easy."_

I pulled off the lid of the venting system of the thirty first floors, and only dipped my head through the smallest bit to locate where each guard was, there was one stood by the elevator doors directly ten metres in front of me. His dark green hair contrasted against the plain black suit he wore, his skin a pale colour and looking rather bored, from time to time communicating with another one of the guards through a small device attached to his wrist. Pulling my head back in I unzipped a pouch, pulling out a small round smoke bomb, and twisting the cap, allowing it to drop down into the floor.

I'd only have about a couple of minutes to make a complete round of the floor, which was how long the smoke lasted and possibly how long it would take for reinforcements to come. The smoke consumed the corridor quickly, and I dropped down into the smoke, crouching on the floor as I faintly saw the green haired guard speaking urgently into his wrist, pulling out a pistol and raising it, his eyes squinting as the smoke became thicker.

"We have an intruder, everyone be on alert-", I cut him off as I charged at him head on, punching him and causing him to stagger backwards, and as he took the time to recover I grabbed onto the wrist holding his gun, twisting it and knocking the weapon out of his hand, efficiently snapping his neck and letting him fall to the floor slowly, to avoid alerting any others near by.

Picking up his lost pistol I began walking with my back against the wall, my ears listening out for the distant shouting and running footsteps that were getting closer, and I waited patiently, hearing more than one pair, from the individual and out of sync footsteps I guessed at least three were coming my way. Taking a deep breath and gripping the gun tightly in my hand, I remembered that my mind had to be switched onto autopilot, I couldn't allow any guilt or other emotions to seep through; I had to seal off everything for this to work.

As soon as they were close enough I shot at one, successfully hearing a yell of pain and a grunt from another, his red hair stood out in the smoke clearly, giving me perfect aim to shoot directly at his head, he dropped down quickly, and I ducked as a punch was aimed my way from the third, elbowing him in the face. He dropped to the floor, supporting himself on his hands and knees as he attempted to push himself back up, only a shot to his head sent him back down to the floor.

From what I remembered from the file, Mac Supreme had a total number of eight guards, and since four of them were dead, with none of the others in the vicinity, I guessed that they were probably with the target. I unclipped another smoke bomb from my pouch, rolling it down another hallway as the smoke from the previous bomb was beginning to clear up, and so far no cameras could have caught me. I shot at the three located in this hallway just in case, and ripped off one of the guard's telecoms, turning the corner in the hallway in a crouched position. I listened with one ear at the shouting coming through it, confirming my guess on that guards were with my target, apparently standing right outside of his office with him locked inside. I shot at more cameras as I turned another corner, the smoke too thick to see through, but trusting my hearing to guide me through.

I rolled one more smoke bomb down the central hallway, counting to five in my head before I set off running down it, dropping to the floor and sliding between one of the guards legs, catching him by surprise as I cocked the gun in his direction, the loud booming sound of the bullet being released ringing in the hallway. I backed myself into one of the glass doors, which was of no use anymore as each glass wall was rammed with smoke, meaning a person could walk right into it without even realising.

I looked at the map of lines on my wrist one more time, gathering that the office of Mac Supreme was practically five steps away from me, only that seemed to be the only room not filled with smoke at this current time. I'd have to change that. The body of the guard that lay in front of me was hoisted up, and I gritted my teeth of the pain my shoulder was enduring due to his heavy weight, I'd only have one chance for this to work, so I had to be strong and quick about it.

I silently prayed that the glass was not bullet proof or thick enough to withstand forceful impact against it, and today the odds seemed to be in my favour, as I threw the body into the glass it shattered through, landing right in the office and a rather pathetic yell of fear following it. Gun shots were aimed in my very direction straight after, and I dropped to the floor hidden in smoke as an alarm began going off, I pulled out the last smoke bomb, praying that I was done before the smoke all cleared up. The gunshots ceased after that, yells of profanities and grunts from the guards echoing as they most likely attempted to see through the smoke.

I slowly got up and charged head first into smoke filled office, feeling a whack on the side of my head from one of the guards which sent me stumbling slightly into the other, and I took the chance to grab onto the hand of the guard which held his gun and shot straight at his colleague. Through the fog I could see another standing in front of a relatively short man, watching as he raised his own gun, I twisted the arm of the guard I was still holding onto and ducked behind him, using his body as a shield from the shots.

When his body fell limp I let go of his body, my hands balling into fists and ready for attack as the last and final guard bounded towards me, ready to block his first punch as he fist rose. I punched him in the gut easily, quickly finding that his face was what he aimed to protect, and delivered another square in his chest that sent him reeling backwards onto the floor. I absentmindedly noticed that he was the most subtle looking of them all, his hair a plain jet black and skin completely natural, blending in with his suit.

He lay on the floor wheezing, chest clearly in pain from the blow I delivered, and picking up the gun of his fallen comrade I quickly put him out of his misery, an empty feeling left inside of me as I didn't allow any other thoughts of the man. My target, who was supposedly some fearless big shot newspaper owner, crouched in a foetal position just beside his marble desk, looking far too grand for a simple newspaper office, clearly portraying just how highly he thought of himself. His skin was tinted a grey colour, his head completely shaved, yet it was covered in intricate black tattoos, reminding me of Seneca Cranes beard. I shook my head of the thoughts, ignoring his please for mercy and jumbled up apologies for Snow, aiming the gun directly at his forehead, and closed my eyes as I pulled the trigger.

"_This is the only mission where it will be clear to the country that your target was assassinated, the people of the Capitol have become too bold, and this could be the first in their rise against us. He's counting on you."_

I turned off the blazing hot water in my shower, my skin red raw from the liquid beating my skin and from the constant scrubbing, trying in some way to remove the blood and indistinguishable dirt from it. My eyes matching the colour due to my excessive crying, I wrapped the towel around me as I tried to compose myself, the glass door of the shower sliding open to let me out. I stood there for a few seconds as the automatic dryer blew at my skin, the water drying away and the droplets of water falling from my hair lessening. I walked into the hotel room that I had been given, nothing but cream and lilac covered the entire room, the extravagant curtains covered with it, cream floral printings clashing with lilac on the bed sheets of the king size bed I was given, it was much smaller than what I had been given during the games, not that I was complaining.

Karina would be here fairly soon, ready to assist me along with her prep team in getting me ready for my first interview since the games, I was meant to introduce my supposed talent to Caesar Flickerman tonight, and reading the file I had been given I was apparently an up and coming poet. I could almost laugh at the idea, someone as cynical as I able to write about flowers that had some alternate deep meaning to it; yes, extremely funny.

I looked into the mirror of the vanity table in my room, sitting on the stool to stare at myself for several minutes, my bathrobe tightly secured around me. I watched my hands in the reflection which continuously shook, and I flexed them a few times to see if it would stop, but it didn't, my lips quivering as I thought of the amount of people I killed today. The amount of men who didn't go home to families today, who had children who looked up to them, or wives who were setting dinner on the table ready for when their loved one was supposed to walk through the door.

The ripples of my actions could go on forever, and I would never know just how big of a problem I had created through that jump in the puddle, I had ripped someone away just like Mico had been ripped away from me. I had no right to hate them now, I was just like one of them, I was a puppet used to the puppeteers own and when I could no longer be of any use to them, I would be discreetly removed just like I was doing to others now.

The worst part was that I knew it was always going to be like this, I would shut myself off every time I had to do a job and suffer the consequences later, that included my dreams, the place I feared the most and had no place of escaping it. I just had to keep reminding myself of who this was for, and that just because I had nothing to lose it didn't mean others didn't, especially Cato. He may behave as if he could handle the world on his own, but every moment I watched him with his family it proved otherwise, he depended on them just as much as how I depended on him.

"_They're will not be a routine to this, sometimes your missions will be pre-planned, and others you will be expected to plan within the day of receiving them."_

No one seemed to understand the common courtesy of knocking in this city; they all took to bursting doors open no matter who it belonged to, Karina barged through with the triplets in tow. Their red hair now the colour of a baby pink, matching corsets with a tutu that made them look as if they were a set of playing dolls, small pink rhinestones decorating the corset. Karina on the other hand had gone for a much darker look, her usually golden hair was now dyed raven and adorned a knee high leather dress, sparkling silver plat-formed heels matching.

Out of all the over the top Capitol members I had seen since I first visited, I couldn't deny that Karina was probably the most stylish, and genuinely looked pretty in her choices of clothing. She smiled brightly at me with her arms extended, red lipstick coating her lips heavily, her arms extended for a welcoming hug, while the triplets stood behind her gossiping loudly and gushing over their excitement for my first real interview.

I stood from my seat, my hand patting the back of Karina's awkwardly as she hugged me tightly, talking happily of how glad she was to see me. She released me from her hold, holding me from my upper arms to take in my body, my hair only slightly damp from my shower.

"You're looking a lot better darling," Karina commented with an easy smile, I nodded and sat back on the vanity chair, motioning for her to get started, and for once I actually wanted the triplets to drive me mad with their unintelligent babble, anything was better than being left alone with my thoughts.

"He is just so charming! He's probably the best looking victor next to Cato, and he's so manly."

"And his eyes are just soo … sooo … well they're just fabulous!"

"He's also single! How impossible is that for someone like Finnick Odaire to be single?"

"Cato is! he's not even pictured with other women like Finnick is!"

"I guess it's because Cato is so hard working that he doesn't have time for women."

The three triplets shared a moment of silence together, proceeding with a rather clichéd sigh behind it, I actually couldn't help but share a grin with Karina over their conversations, not to mention my slight satisfaction at the fact Cato supposedly had not been seen with a women since he won his games. Finnick Odaire was ahead of him in that department, and as long as it stayed that way I was not about to complain, I begun thinking about whether he would reach the Capitol anytime soon, since he had his own job to attend to and would be staying here longer than I would.

The girls had fixed my hair into an elegant bun, small golden pins holding it into place, and they kept my jewellery to a minimum with just earrings, ones that were once again in the shape of a leaf; it seemed that Karina still had an obsession with that as my symbol. They went with a summer look in terms of clothing, dressing me in cream linen shorts, with a matching blazer and a plain black halter top, not that it was showing off anything in the first place, I seriously lacked in that department.

My eyeliner was made thick, along with huge false eyelashes that made my eyelids feel as if a blanket was cast on them, although it did make my green eyes stand out remarkably so, along with a soft coat of lip gloss. The finishing touches being my shoes, black wedges that looked as if they could make me blend in with the Capitols skyscrapers, I seriously doubted I would be able to walk in those for more than five minutes.

"Oh, did you hear Karina? Mac Supreme of the Capitol Daily was killed this morning!"

My heart stopped for what felt like several seconds, almost making me feel like it would freeze up, a lump formed in my throat and I took a long deep breath to compose myself. My stomach begun tying into several knots, and it wasn't the usual knots I got when Cato looked at me, these knots were spiralling from guilt and nervousness, my head begun pounding with the thoughts of this morning pushing into my skull, as if trying to engrave the memories so I would never forget. My palms began to sweat as they continued to talk about it, Karina firing questions from her clear shock of his death, while the triplets all attempted to answer at the same time.

"Apparently it was an assassination!"

"Yes, all his guards were killed too!"

"Who would do something like that?"

I suddenly felt as if I were being suffocated, as if there were too many people in this small room, I needed an outlet, a distraction even, I needed them to stop talking about the man I had just killed.

"Can we leave now?" I spoke a little hurriedly, standing in my too tall heels and walking past Karina to the door, ignoring her confused gaze.

"Yeah, sure … girls get your things."

The triplets all took hold of a bright punk duffle bag, each one containing either some hair accessories or make up sets, Karina continued to watch me cautiously, mouthing if I was okay, to which I replied with a soft nod, letting both her and the girls exit first, and closed the door behind me as left the room.

"Hey ginger!"

I could recognise that teasing patronising voice anywhere, and I turned back around to look at who stood at the doorway of the hotel room opposite mine. Looking smarter than ever Cato was dressed in smart black trousers, a matching black blazer, and the white button up shirt that went with it wasn't fully done up, an untied bow hung around his neck. He knew he looked good, which was exactly why he was smirking like the sun shone right out of his backside, his hands tucked into his trouser pockets.

"Cato.." My surprise in his appearance was shown through my quite voice, and his smirk grew as he begun walking towards me, the girls strangely silent as they stood behind me.

"Yes it's me; do I look that good in this suit?"

I ignored his arrogant reply and enveloped him in a hug, my arms wrapping around his waist and taking him off guard by my forwardness. His hands rested on my back softly, a little chuckle escaping his lips when I let go, my hands still holding on tightly to his blazer, and his smile faded a little as he looked at me, my head almost level with his due to my extremely high heels.

"You okay? You look a little pale," he questioned, his eyes slightly narrowed, and I shook off his questions with a quick reply, fully knowing that even I didn't sound convincing.

He probably had no idea how glad I was to see him, especially when I needed his presence so badly, I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually got sick of me even, due me constantly needing his attention in some way.

"It's just a little hard being here again is all."

"Faith we need to leave, Caesar does not like to be kept waiting." Karina stated, a knowing smile spread across her lips as she continued to watch Cato and I, the triplets giggling amongst each other.

"Do you wanna come?"

"I would if I could, only I have my own job to do … but I'll see you when you get back okay?"

My face fell a little, but was instantly replaced with a fake smile as Cato gauged my reaction, I craved contact from someone who I didn't feel like was constantly breathing down my neck, especially with how stressed out I was feeling at the current moment.

"You sure you're okay? You can tell me if you're not."

I nodded once more, smiling before I let go of his blazer and turned to walk away, only for him to grab onto my wrist abruptly, I turned my head back towards him, my eyes catching onto his which had now softened the slightest bit, my cheeks flushing pink under such a penetrating gaze, almost as if he could see right through me.

"You look amazing," he muttered low enough, probably to make sure that Karina and the others hadn't heard, not that I blamed him.

"You too," I whispered back, knowing already that this was a little dangerous, if the twins caught one word from this exchange it would be all over Panem, my life would be just as much exposed as it was now. Giving Snow the confirmation that something was going on with Cato would only push his threats further, I could even see him going as far as making a statement by hurting him or his family just for the sake of rattling my cage.

He let go of my wrist, both of us turning away from each other to go out separate ways, I ignored the triplets questions of what he said to me, rolling my eyes at Karina's smirk, leaving them to babble about Cato as I would much rather hear about that than the death of man that was caused by me.

* * *

**Hey guys! Prom was amazing thanks for asking … not that I remembered much! Ha, I woke up the next day with a bunch of bruises, and then I went out again Saturday night! HA! Yep so, this pretty much answers the question of whether she took the job or not … but like I said she didn't really have that much of a choice! Mehhh I hope you all like this, I haven't really written a chapter with this much action in a while so it was fun to write!**

**LuliCullen: Hey, yeah that was quite funny to write! Thanks and hope you like this chapter! **

**Geranium08: Ha Cato hasn't said anything … because he doesn't know :O Not that I think she'll tell him anytime soon, yeah so thank you for reviewing my lovely! Hope this chapter is good to you **

**Kiralol101: Haha IKR! They really are just so much fun to write together, I was hysterically laughing while writing that! Just the image of a baby Cato was too much to take! And yeah I had my last English Literature exam, went okay so fingers crossed! And Prom was great! Thank you for the help on the picture links, as you can see I totally used one as my cover for the story, they were great my darling! Thank you for reviewing and hope you like this chapter!**

**Saiyanprincess711: Oh right, well I hope they went well! Thank you I'm glad you liked the Ivy/Faith friendship and some Catoness, hope you liked this chapter hun and thnx for the review x**

**Nelle07: Sorry no kiss in this chapter either, but fluffiness should be soon! ;) Thanks for the review dear x **

**C0nt0rt3dM1nd: Ha that's exactly the same with me, throughout the entire chapter I was writing I just had the image of Black Widow in my head! And you got to find out here what she did with the assassin thing! Thank you for reviewing darling and hope u like the chapter!**

**Alwaysamarauder16: You don't have to be jealous anymore! Ha only Sasha left and then we're complete! I know, no one threatens Cato and gets away with it! I really wanted to give him a home life, a family he would want to provide for and his main reason for going into the games. Same I love the name Ivy, and haha drunk faith was a blast to write! Thanks for reviewing my dear ;) see you on twitter :P**

**PeppermintAmortentia: Thank you so much, and don't worry you're update is here! **

**AlexShah: Haha Miss Break is going to turn into a very hated character, she is a nasty piece of work! Thank you for your kind words and thank you my exam went well! Glad you reviewed my dear and hope you liked this chapter!**

**Bubz: I will!**

**JustaPersonwithapony: Haha don't worry I do that with stories too! And yes I am leading up to something very very big! Hope you stick around for it, and thank you for my characterisation on him, I hope you think its spot on! And thank you for reviewing lovely, hope you like this one too! **

**KnucklePuck29: She probably didn't react in the best way, but in the way SHE thought was best Ha! And I don't think he'll be finding out anytime soon! And thank you for thinking so; I love the fact that you love this story! It means a lot! So thank you for taking time out to review and hope you like this chapter! **

**Brooke332: I do the same with loads of stories I read so don't sweat it! Thank you, my aim was to make this story more than just about a romance, and the arena was one of my favourite parts to write so I'm glad you pointed it out! And thank you so much, I'm so glad that you think I do and thank you for taking time out to review! **

**MockingVerse: oh my thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy the story so and hope you continue to!**

**SingingInTheRain: Haha I sorta based Ivy's character off of one of my friends mothers aswell! I like doing that a lot with characters, and thank you I hope you like this action packed chapter, a lot of shit went down haha! And thanks for the review!**

**WhispersInTheRain: Thank you! And I have! Hope you like it! **


	24. Piece

_"I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now, I Wouldn't Dive In And I Wouldn't Bow Down, Gravity Hurts But You Made It So Sweet, 'Till I Woke Up On The Concrete. I'm Wide Awake Not Losing Any Sleep, I Picked Up Every Piece And Landed On My Feet." - Katy Perry; Wide Awake._

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The studio for Caesars late night show was made to look as if it were a place of comfort for his guests, both seats sat opposite each other, the fabric of velvet and a dark purple colour, cushions of the same colour matched with it, and I couldn't deny that when I was placed in the seat it had done its job of making me feel safe and welcomed. A baby pink oval shaped coffee table was placed in between both chairs; along with a large background screen which a large purple font projected onto it. The shows title of 'The Hot Spot' sounded absolutely ridiculous, but according to Karina Caesar had possibly every popular celebrity at the current time on this show, making it TV gold.

Second to The Hunger Games of course.

A stack of copies of my supposed first published book of poems was placed on the coffee table, this being the first time I had seen it gave me the annoying itch to pick it up one and take a look, of course if I did that then people would wonder why on earth the author of the book was reading through it with a completely baffled look on her face.

That itch grew every time Caesar asked a question on the book and the rehearsed lines I had been given by Gold for it always suddenly became a lot harder to remember, especially with an audience behind the screen leaned forward in their seats as if they actually cared. I think we all know that my talk with Caesar about poems was not what they really wanted to hear, the man himself was practically bouncing in his seat to get to other topics with me, not that I held any animosity towards him, in fact Caesar seemed to be a rather polite man, a little dense in some places but he wasn't completely bad. He even gave me a small awkward hug before we went live, assuring me that I didn't need to be nervous and to relax like there wasn't a camera in front of us, which was rather difficult seeing as it was pushed in my face every time I hesitated with an answer.

"So Miss Willows," Caesar tugged on the purple jacket suit he wore, leaning back in his chair a little and grinning widely, "I know that after the Games must have been a hard recovery seeing as you have no family."

I nodded as I tried to keep my false smile on, it became tighter by the second as he paused dramatically, and the idea of talking about my dead parents didn't seem like a very comfortable conversation to have on live television.

"Would you say that since you've grown up without parents or siblings, that you've found it rather easy to cope with the after effects of the games?"

I sat silent for a moment, contemplating an answer that was short, but good enough for Caesar to stop prodding for one; it wasn't like I could burst out with how the after-effects sent me into a state of hallucinating Mico's dead form, the less people who knew about that the better.

"Nothing can really prepare you to cope with the after-effects Caesar; you just have to learn to make do with what you have."

He nodded as his grin grew wider, turning towards the audience and winking as he spoke his next words, "well when all you've got is your mentor Cato Valentine I'm sure we would _all _be happy to make do with him."

The audience cheered, whistles coming in all directions, and an image of Cato posing in a suit was projected onto the screen behind us, the crowd becoming wilder by the second, not that I blamed them since it was a good shot of him. My face remained blank as his insinuation, a suggestive look on his superficial features; he sat forward with his elbows on his lap his head leaning closer as if we were sharing some secret.

"Rumour has it that you and our previous victor are extremely close … romantically involved even."

I shook my head, another small false smile on my lips, "I'm sorry to disappoint, but there's nothing going on there, he and I are just friends."

He huffed a little childishly, getting the audience to agree with him when he voiced his thoughts on how much that sucked, proceeded by laughter at his use of language, giving a half hearted apology to those who were watching with children at home. He went on to quiz me on other District Two victors, asking about who I had made friends with and who I had not, the childish huff becoming a regular occurrence as he didn't get an answer he was looking for, not that it seemed to matter the people of the Capitol always made up their own answers to things and went along with them whether they were true or not.

"Before I let you go my dear to party with the rest of the lovely stars of The Capitol, my last question to you would be.." another dramatic pause was inserted as he looked between me and the audience briefly, making sure that everyone was listening, and I sat up in my seat my leg crossing over another, "what can we expect from you as a mentor, with the new Games only a month away?"

I wish I could have told him the truth, that I would have rather be in the company of both Enobaria and Brutus for the duration of the Games than be a mentor, the idea of having another person death on my conscious was already too much to take in, but to know that it was a trained child who thought that they would be both mentally and physically ready for such a thing rattled me even more. Instead I released a tight smile, my forearms resting on my lap as connected eyes with Caesar, once again leaning forward to listen to my answer.

"What I can tell you Caesar ... is that with mentors such as me and Cato working together, the other Districts will have a hell of a competition up against our kids."

For the last time of that evening the crowd roared into claps and cheers, Caesar clapping with them as he thanked me for appearing on the show, the crowd becoming wilder as they were instructed to by the camera men for when the credits rolled on the screen, me waving into one of the cameras as I did so. I was sincerely looking forward to simply returning to my hotel, finding Cato and spending the last night in Capitol with him until I had to return next month for the Games, the month that I was truly dreading, praying that time went by slowly, anything to postpone it from having the responsibility of being a mentor.

Unfortunately my fun night didn't stop there, and fifteen minutes away from the studio was a hotel lobby that hosted some of the most popular dinner parties in The Capitol, they were allegedly hosting the after party of Caesars show, something they did every week, and it never disappointed in terms of being a wonderful party. Karina and the triplets filled me in on how wonderful they were, with the bar being open the whole night, and many famous faces attending, emphasizing their excitement in the possibilities that Finnick Odaire could possibly be there as well.

The venue was lit moderately dark, with only a light glow from the large crystal chandeliers keeping the room from being pitch black, a string band playing in the corner of the room. The entire place contained a Greek look to it, with white pillars decorating the large room, and large red curtains draped over the equally large windows and the doors leading to the garden outside. Many people danced while others sat at dinner tables, a white cloth draped over each one and large champagne bottles sat in buckets of ice, people drinking to their hearts contents and laughing obnoxiously in their conversations.

It was loud, was my first thought to enter my mind as I took in the scene before me, preceded by the extravagant clothing and hair colours from the people occupying the room. To be completely honest no one here seemed familiar to me, not that I was in with who was famous in the Capitol and who wasn't, other than the odd talk show hosts or TV news reporters, there wasn't anyone I could actually sit and converse with.

"You can't leave me on my own!"

I hissed towards Karina, who rolled her eyes and pushed me further into the room, before she herself disappeared into the sea of people, along with the triplets before her, all heading in different directions of the room. I stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, before deciding to just head to the bar, ordering a soft drink, knowing that Gold would eventually find me to introduce me to several people within the room. Speaking of the women I had barely seen her since the victory tour, only seeing her once since then to receive the cards that held scripted answers to my talk show interview, she appeared to be a rather busy woman in terms of show business, and apparently loved to do nothing but work.

I wasn't left to my own devices as I spent several minutes sitting on a stool at the bar, many Capitol members approached me and spoke of my time in the Games, a few mentioning that they were sponsors of me. I thanked them politely, engaging myself in short conversations to pass time, not that I could really call them conversations, seeing as they spent most of their time babbling on what their favourite parts were, and me merely nodding my head at the right time.

"That final fight with the District Four boy, oh my just positively remarkable, I was left breathless-"

"What about when she lost her District partner, I cried my heart out-"

I choked on my drink at that statement, the familiar feeling of my chest tightening as the continued on about Mico's death, seeming to forget that I was even sitting in front of them. The lump in my throat becoming difficult to swallow down and blinking back tears, frustrating me that I couldn't even rub at my eyes as I risked smudging the eye make-up, causing me look like the mess that I felt inside my head.

"Was it true that you raised him?"

I stuttered for words as they stared at me expectantly, still trying to comprehend the fact that these people had the audacity to ask such questions without thinking how it would affect me.

"I think she's had enough questions fired at her tonight my lovely people, why don't we give her some room to breathe?"

Cato's voice was like music to these people's ears, the women gushed over him and he practically ate it up, the cocky flirtatious Cato was present and he smirked as one older woman complimented his choice of clothing, having no problem in letter her drape herself over his shoulder. I crossed my arms as my irritation rose at this woman's lack of dignity, the others dispersing and blending into the crowds, her laugh making my ear drums bleed as he promised her a free drink later on in the night, rolling my eyes I waited for her to stalk off, not seeming to struggle one bit in her tall platforms.

He turned to me soon after, his smirk evaporating due to my blank expression and clear annoyance at the woman; he rolled his eyes before moving to take a seat beside me on the stool, ordering a drink at the bar.

"You're welcome," he drawled, and even from here I could smell the alcohol in his breath as his elbow leaned on the bar, I hadn't seen Cato drunk before so I wasn't entirely sure whether to behave warily around him, in fact I didn't know until now that he did drink.

"Thank you."

I rested my chin in my hand as we sat in silence for a few moments, me watching him knock another drink back, the sour taste not affecting him at all as he ordered another, the rigidness in his jaw giving him away too well.

"Wanna leave and go home?"

He shook his head, stretching a little before whirling around in his stool to face the crowd, "can't, I'm tied up here."

"But you're sitting here knocking back drinks?"

He laughed at my frustration and I narrowed my eyes at him, he looked at me from the corner of his eye before grabbing two small glasses off the counter.

"I'm preparing myself for that."

He motioned with his head to halfway across the room where the tables were located, my eyes travelled there slowly, catching onto a woman who was waving over in our direction. Her brown hair was covered in multicoloured streaks, lips seeming to be surgically enhanced and almost looked like they belonged to an amphibian, rainbow coloured eyelashes and eyebrows finishing her ridiculous look, probably around the same age of Ivy. My nose scrunched up in disgust at the state of woman, and I felt an unnatural amount of rage at the fact he was even decided to spend time with an air headed middle aged, stupidly dressed woman.

"Do not tell me you are on a date with _that_?"

"Someone sounds jealous," he mused and I scoffed at the ridiculousness in his statement, not bothering to respond to such a statement. I was not jealous.

"If it makes you feel at ease I don't actually want to be spending time with her."

"It doesn't because I don't care."

I snapped, averting my gaze from both him and his _date, _looking into the crowd of dancing people, laughter filling the air as my teeth grinded together. I hadn't been this irritated with Cato in a long time, and it appeared as if he was thinking along the same lines as me.

"What is wrong with you? It's not like we're together."

I think it was because his voice was so monotonous that made his statement hurt more than it should have, and the fact that when my expression of hurt pushed through was seen by him I felt as if it I had lost a little of my dignity. Attempting to recover from his insulting comment I replaced the hurt expression with a sour one, gritting my teeth as he stared coldly at me.

"Thank god for that! Because I think she is perfectly compatible with your brain capacity," I hopped off the stool, grabbing my glass of drink before I finished off my sentence, "which is nothing!"

So it wasn't the best comeback I had ever come up with, but in the heat of the moment and from not wanting to look like an idiot more than I already did I spat out the first thing that came to mind. I pushed passed drunks, weaving between the dancing crowds and walking down the stone steps that led into the garden, large hedges and gold benches spread out across the entire place, and at the very back I could just about make out the entrance to a labyrinth through the night sky. It probably wasn't the best idea to head straight for it, seeing as I was more than likely to get lost in such a thing, but at the current time it appeared to be the perfect place to be alone.

Wrapping my dressing gown around me I sat at the vanity table, brushing my hair out in the mirror as I listened to the TV in the background, a special of the most memorable Hunger Games victors. Haymitch Abernathy of District Twelve had been counted as one, which I agreed with to some extent with as he was from one of the poorest Districts and had won during the second Quarter Quell, four tributes from each District would have surely been more difficult than any other year. Following him soon after was a young man from District Nine, he went by the name of Haine Titan, and had been reaped at the age of seventeen, his arena had basically been a huge marsh land, and had been rather clever by killing all the Careers first in their sleep, outlasting the other Districts by using the Careers supplies. By now he looked to be in his mid twenties, his head shaved and the lightest stubble coming through and he had spent his time since leaving the arena setting up a small centre where he could train certain students up for the Games. It was no where near the level of District One or Two's actual school Academies, but it was enough to make sure if kids were reaped that they weren't completely unprepared.

Another had been Rose Winters of District Four, mostly because she had the biggest shock twist in the Games, revealing in her interviews that she was pregnant, resulting in her not only wanting to go home, but needing it for the sake of her child. The arena several miniature islands, barely any palm trees for cover on any, and ultimately went down to whether you could fish or not, other than the ability to swim, and as Rose was from District Four the odds were surprisingly in her favour. She spent her time mostly in hiding, allowing the Careers to pick off the remaining tributes, resulting in a show down between her and a girl from One, who Rose had found fairly easy to drown seeing as she lacked any swimming skills, making Rose the winner of the 59th Hunger Games.

"Now Johanna Mason of District Seven … she was really something!"

"I completely agree Carol-Anne, a real nasty piece of work but completely compelling to watch!"

Both women chuckled as a mini clip of Johanna impaling a tribute with an axe at the Cornucopia appeared on the screen, the once terrified expression she carried replace with a sneer, she was probably the victor I was looking forward to meeting the least. Mostly because she was absolutely terrifying on screen, and if shivers of discomfort was what she could bring out of me through that god only knew what was possible face to face, she was small by deadly.

I looked to the small clock on my bed side table, noticing that it was nearing the early hours of the morning, leaving me to ponder just who would decide to knock on my door at such a time. However my curiosity was short lived when the knocking didn't come to a stop, continuing in a rather annoying rhythm, creating the conclusion that my guest was either a drunken member of hotel staff, or just a drunk Cato. I opened the door to see him using his arm to supporting himself against the doorframe, his bowtie vanished and white button up shirt slightly undone, and teasing women in a small glimpse of what lay beneath the shirt.

His hair was messy, a playful smirk on his face as he stood there silently watching me, my arms folded and expression blank as I waited for him to say something. The fact that he looked strangely attractive in the mess he was easily ignored by my annoyance with him, and although my irrational anger for his insensitivity may have died down, the wound he had created to cause me pain hadn't. He let out a dramatic sigh, his hands raised in mock surrender as he stood to his full height, eyes twinkling in some form of mischief; definitely drunk.

"Alright you win! Can I come in now?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but was that your version of an apology?"

I rolled my eyes and turned around, walking to my bed and taking a seat, Cato following and closing the door behind him, his hands in his pockets as he paced in front of me, a look of annoyance on his face before he spoke once more.

"Okay I'm sorry for being an ass, better now?"

Fidgeted in my spot a little, a frown on my face as he awaited my reply, "Well no ... because now you're only saying it for the sake of saying it," I spoke reluctantly, part of me knowing I was being unreasonable, the other half wanting to watch him grovel a little before I reveal that I had forgiven him already.

He apparently wasn't appreciative of my response, not that I entirely blamed him, and he let out a frustrated groan, both hands running through his hair and making it look more messy than before, his hands motioning between us in a frustrated manor before he spoke in a strained tone.

"Why does nothing please you? I'd have more of a chance having a normal conversation with a brick wall!"

"You're not helping your case at all, and that's not true," I spoke defensively, my arms folding once more and breaking eye contact with him.

He took a deep breath, moving forward to take a seat beside me, our arms touching as he continued to stutter his way through a response. I turned away from him to hide my small smile, not intending to show that I found his uncomfortable behaviour with situations such as these extremely adorable.

"Look all I was trying to say was that you want to me apologise, and when I do you don't think it's genuine … it's like there's no winning with you."

I opened my mouth to voice my opinion, but he cut me off quickly as he carried on, "but forget about that … I didn't think you'd take what I said about you being jealous so seriously-"

"I wasn't jealous!"

"Okay, fine you weren't jealous! Can I finish now?"

He spoke with an exasperated tone, a smile pushing through both of our faces as we fought the urge to laugh at the ridiculous argument, pulling my arm out of the fold it was in to take one of my hands in both of his, holding it as we sat in silence for a few moments, his eyes staring at our hands intertwined, while I continued to watch him. His eyebrows furrowed in what looked to be distress, making me think that he was possibly hiding something, something that looked to be bothering him a lot more than he'd like to admit.

"You know … you have probably got to be the most irritating, stubborn, sometimes a little conceited, and high maintenance girl I have ever wanted to be with."

"I am _not _high maintenance," I said defensively, yanking my hand out of his, "or conceited for that matter ... Actually none of that ar-"

He covered my mouth with his hand, more laughter escaping his lips and he smiled at me, "I just said that I want to be with you and the only thing you caught in that sentence were insults? … You're unbelievable."

I was rendered speechless, averting my gaze to wall ahead of me, my mouth agape as I thought over his words, my heart and head going into over drive at the honesty of Cato's words. I had been in denial for so long that now when it came down to finally admitting my feelings I couldn't seem to form any sentences, shockingly enough Cato being the one to admit his first, which could be seen as unbelievable when he continuously presented himself as some hard shelled cocky victor, but I had been easily proved wrong. Not that I saw anything wrong in him admitting it, it just felt a little strange seeing as we always danced around such a subject. I mean we always behaved as if we were together, with our hand holding, or our sporadic kissing, not to mention the countless dinners or luncheons I had spent with his mother, I finally felt as if I belonged somewhere.

I smiled as the memory of our first kiss came to mind, even though it was under such depressing circumstances, and the feeling of warmth that encased me when his lips touched mine, a feeling that I hadn't felt with anyone else in any other situation.

"I was jealous."

I whispered it quietly, but he had heard fairly easily, because his arm wound around my shoulders, pulling me closer towards him as I rested my head against his shoulder, he placed a kiss on my forehead as I looked up at him, smiling a little unsurely at him.

"So … this is it?"

He looked away for a second, a content smile on his face before he turned back towards me, "Yeah, I guess it is."

"Well what do we do then?"

He laughed at my complete uselessness, planting a soft kiss on my lips before replying, "What we already do idiot."

I glared at him playfully, getting nothing but another burst of laughter, liking the fact that my mood had changed dramatically and quite easily after a small spat with Cato, and I rested my head back on his shoulder. He did have a point; we were really already there in terms of what to do, only this time I wouldn't feel weird or slightly baffled as to why it happened, knew that from now on it would feel a lot more natural. We fell into a comfortable silence after that, there didn't really feel a need to talk, I was more than content in just sitting her with him for a while until I began to tire out.

It was a significantly small detail, and if I hadn't been in such close proximity with Cato I probably would never have noticed it in the first place, yet I did, and it wasn't exactly the most pleasant discovery. A red smudge, faint but still clear enough for me to see was located on his shirt collar, as if something had been rubbed against it, something like a pair of feminine lips. I sat up straight, my hand reaching for his collar, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I attempted to tame the anger from before resurfacing.

He looked at me with a puzzled look, eyes briefly looking down to see why I was behaving differently, and his eyes came back up with a look of caution, gauging my reaction, most likely scared for his face should I react in a violent manor.

"Is that … lipstick?"

He didn't reply, and the only movement he made was a hand sliding down his face in distress, a groan erupting from his lips as he already knew that this wouldn't turn out well.

"That woman you were with … when you said you were 'tied up' with her … you didn't mean?"

He bit his lip, standing and taking a few steps back, "I can explain this," he reasoned his voice extremely calm, as if what he had supposedly just done wasn't completely outrageous.

"Oh my god you did, didn't you?"

I stood up, walking around the bed to stand on the opposite side, attempting to keep my distance, trying to refrain from doing something I would regret. Although at the rate he was going to try and piss me off I was pretty sure I wouldn't regret a single thing I did or said tonight, which proved just how angry and hurt I really felt right now.

"Out of all the cruel and stupid things you have ever done … you really did outdo yourself with this didn't you?" I laughed a little as a carried on, my tone becoming sarcastic as I continued, "unless she wasn't the first for you to do something like this with."

He pressed his lips together and turned his gaze towards the floor, running a hand through my hair in growing frustration, and my jaw dropping the list of bombshells revealing themselves from him tonight.

"Look, I didn't have a choice-"

"Of course you did! Only you're so busy thinking with what's in between your legs than your actual head! … and you have the audacity to say you want to be with me?"

"I do want to be with you!"

"Obviously not if you-"

"It's my job Faith!"

I had never heard Cato's voice shout at that volume, and I had never seen his face flush that deep of a red out of anger and embarrassment, both those factors as well as his statement were what put a stop to my ranting. I had never seen Cato this angry before, not since his Games at least, but that was partly anger and partly due to insanity and the loss of Clove, but this was something else, something that he would usually jump at the chance of doing yet it didn't seem to cause nothing but stress for him.

He sighed as I stood there silently, awaiting whatever was to come out of his mouth next, and watched him as he took a seat onto the vanity table chair, doing it somewhat exhaustedly and buried his face into his hands.

"I was gonna tell you later on … when everything had calmed down … modelling is a cover story, this is my real job."

The uncontrollable rage I once felt was quickly replaced with an insane amount of guilt, and because of my feelings for my ashamed behaviour I truly had nothing to say; not that there was anything that could be said. Truth be told I didn't know what to think of something like that, like I had said before there were always rumours about Snow making victors do things such as these, and as I had always thought that they would only be rumours it didn't dawn on me what I should do when someone as important as Cato would reveal he was forced to do that very thing.

"Well … when _he _asked you, did you try saying no?"

"I have a family to think of Faith I can't just say no and not think about the consequences like you could," he sneered through gritted teeth, and I visibly flinched at his harsh words, bringing up memories I would much rather prefer not to remember at a time such as this.

I sniffled the slightest bit, averting my eyes away from him and blinking back the tears quickly, my emotions becoming extremely high due to the amount of times they had changed so quickly.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, his tone a lot softer than it previously was, "that was out of line, I didn't mean it."

"It's fine," I reasoned with him, knowing that I really had no right to be angry at him when he was the one who was clearly going through much more than I was in this current time, and that if his emotions were a lot calmer he wouldn't have had such an outburst. I walked back around to his side, standing in front of him, his blue eyes looking up to with a defeated look, as if he were emotionally worn, tired of everything, and this entire time I had been so wrapped up in my own problems that I hadn't stopped to wonder whether Cato was going through his own.

"It's okay … I'm okay with it," I forced a smile, attempting to show some form of support for him, he had bent over backwards for me for almost a year to help me through my problems, so there was no reason why I couldn't do the same.

"You're really okay with me having to do _that _with other women? That's not normal for a relationship Faith."

His expression was sceptical, though his tone said different as it came off as incredulous, and I smiled at him as I lowered myself onto my knees, my elbows resting on his knees as we were now on the same eyelevel, chin resting in one of my elbows as he watched me curiously, his mouth set in a frown that really fit on him, not that I would say at a time like this. I would save a line like that for when we were next bickering, as I had quickly run out of lines on his receding hairline.

"When have we ever been normal Cato?"

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**Sorry this is so late, I've been really busy since this weekend and when I had finally finished this chapter Microsoft when and erased half of it for no apparent reason, so I had to rewrite. So I'll say again I'm really really sorry 3**

**BY THE WAY – For the next games that Faith mentors too (from a suggestion of one of my reviewers) I don't mind getting ideas and suggestions for tributes if you would like to put some forward? At the moment I have a pretty good description of the District Two tributes and the male tribute from one … other than that you're free to give ideas .. though I'll admit that most of the outer districts wont be as prominent in the games as the careers are so just leave them in the reviews if you like x**

**AlexShah: Hhaha exactly the same for me, and thank you I love it when people are kept guessing … it means I'm doing my job right! Haha! Thank you for review and I hope u liked this chapter!**

**C0nt0rt3dM1nd: I know when I saw that I was like 'huh why have they changed it?' and then they changed it back to 'review' ha, and thank you so much! That seriously means a lot coming from one of my readers! Thank you for reviewing again **

**Guest: ahhhh thank you, that is so lovely and I'm glad you enjoyed the story that much!**

**Bbymjo: Still a bit sceptical about when he would find out, but I have an idea of when so stayed tuned for that, and as for the action more of it will be coming up" This chapter was just a little bit calmer and a sort of continuation of the last. Thank you for reviewing!**

**PeppermintAmortentia: Thank you darling, and don't worry I'll be reviewing your last two chapters too! I've just been so busy atm with things but I will! **

**Kiralol101: You were very helpful; I loved the ones you sent! And yes you can call it that, even though her actions were for bad causes, she was pretty smooth though wasn't she? Ha! And your wish came true, I did write about them after, although it wasn't the sort of conversation anyone, and hahaha I seriously don't remember half the night, people keep telling me things I did and I'm like … yeah, I don't remember that happening. **

**AlwaysAMarauder16: Hahaha When I read that line I was just thinking of when you dropped that line to me on twitter! And ahhhh didn't end up going in that direction for Cato, but it still is sort of! I knowwww .. he's so dreamy! Ha! And I'll keep trying until he does! Haha 'love the uk' is my favourite phrase now as well!**

**HermoineAndMarcus: Thank you and I will!**

**Guest: Thank you so much!**

**LuliCullen: Thank you so much! And I will try to!**

**AwaitingaHogwartsLetter: Don't feel bad! I can understand that sometimes you're pre-occupied with other things, I'm just thankful that you take time out to review at all! Sometimes I don't like to go into complete detail about things, otherwise it doesn't leave anything for the readers to imagine, and I like it when readers create their own assumptions on things and leave it to their own interpretation. I took your advice! Thanks for the suggestion and I put it in the top of the note, so thank you for helping out with that! :D**

**Saiyanprincess711: Thank you, ahhh I really did enjoy writing that part! And I do too, it would probably be a horrible feeling … meh I'm a little evil for making her suffer but, it's all apart of her growing and changing as a person! Thank you so much for you're review and I hope you liked the chapter!**

**Wearethelight: Hey there hotstuffs! Thank you and smileeeeee! Cause me and sophie love you :3 and keep ya chin up, because like you said YOLO … haha or should I be saying JOLO now? :P**

**Gusmer: Thank you so much! Trust me I have too! I loveeeeee THG with a passion! And I'm seriously so flattered that you think that, its wonderful that you think so highly of my writing and story, and I hope you like the rest of the story! I love that you took the time to review so thank you!**

**JustAPersonWithAPony: Yeah I don't like how FF has changed all the review settings and things, and yeahhh it does suck but things wont always be bad for her! Me promises :3 Thank you for reviewing dear!**

**DGfleetflox: I was pleasantly surprised to see both your reviews on my story, I was like ohhh yaya! And I plan on listening to that song tomorrow when I've had the right amount of sleep … because It's 4am while I write this haha! Thank you so much for reviewing it means a lot!**

**Guest: Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it and I hope you like the ones to come! I willtry to!**

**I apologise for any grammatical mistakes or spelling mistakes ... I'm literally so tired I think I'm going to drop dead ... BUT I am gonna be spending some time doing a major revise of the story and basically sorting out grammar and spelling and what not! **


	25. Moments

"_Life Is Beautiful But It's Complicated We Barely Make It, We Don't Need To Understand, Because There Are Miracles. Stand Where You Are, We Let All These Moments Pass Us By, It's Amazing Where I'm Standing, There's A Lot That We Can Give, It's Just Ours For The Moment." – Vega 4; Life Is Beautiful._

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The Front door of Faiths home had been opened, Cato pulling the spare keys that now belonged to him out of the lock and closing the door behind him, letting his duffel bag fall to the floor by the stairs, containing a small amount of clothes from his weekend away at the Capitol. He called out Faith's name, assuming she was somewhere around the house, running a hand down his tired face as he walked down the hall and into the kitchen, briefly looking around before he grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, taking a bite and walking back down the hall.

"Faith, you here?" he called once more, this time from the foot of the stairs, grabbing the bag and walking up them.

He had been spending most of his time in Faith's home since they had returned from the Capitol on their last trip, officially announcing that they were a couple to his mother had left her ecstatic. He smiled at the thought of how they had agreed to be a couple, knowing it was the strangest conversation yet it worked for them, that was without even adding in her consent to his Capitol job.

He knew she wasn't completely okay with the idea of it, and that was obvious from her silent sulks before he had to leave on each trip, or her resilient behaviour to be affectionate with him when he returned unless he washed. He knew it wasn't because she thought he had caught anything, he was more than safe in those terms, but he knew it was for her own peace of mind, to know that when she did touch him he wasn't already tainted by the touch of another woman.

The fact that she was willing to overlook such a thing in order to be with him made him happy enough, more than happy for that matter, especially since he wanted her just as much as she did. Surviving her Games by the skin of her teeth did have a hand to help in that matter, watching her almost die hadn't been an easy fort, especially since she was practically comatose the days following her victory and barely pulling through, it was like her brain subconsciously forced her body to keep going in times of certain death.

However even after waking up it still felt as though he were watching her through a screen, shutting herself off and living as if her mind were on autopilot for the next few months, torturing herself for something that was beyond her control, her suffering and pain never leaving her even after her exit of the arena.

It had torn him up an exceptional amount when she had finally admitted to supposedly seeing Mico, and at times having conversations with him, it was an outrageous statement, but her admitting that it was crazy assured him that she hadn't completely lost her sanity. She eventually admitted that she knew the hallucinations were due to the amount of guilt she bottled up inside of her, which she still had yet to let go of, he knew he wasn't one to talk when it came to admitting the deaths of your team mates in the arena was beyond your control, the guilt and nightmares of what you did lingered a long time after you left, and according to Finnick all that happened was that they calmed down a little.

Having someone there didn't make it all go away, but it certainly did help in trying to deal with it all, that was why he thought he and Faith worked so well, because they had a level of understanding in each others suffering, because they both needed someone there. It wasn't all for comfort though, Cato knew that when it came to someone matching his stubbornness and silver tongue there wasn't anyone other than Faith, she gave as good as she got whenever they found themselves in a dispute, even when they were simply teasing one another. Hell, even Cato didn't try calming her when she was on a rampage of anger; being on the receiving end of such a thing was proven pretty explicitly on live television should anyone cross paths with her.

That was a brutal finale to the end of the Quarter Quell, but he knew by the end of the games you weren't anywhere near in your right mind to be aware of what you were doing, and losing someone that was practically family mere hours before was sure to set you off in massacre frenzy. He winced slightly as the brief image of the District One girl screaming while Faith gauged her eyes out of their sockets, a long with the tongue cutting with the kid from Seven; it was a difficult situation to base an opinion on since Seven was responsible for Mico's death.

Yet watching that specific death unfold before him, and hearing the amount of pain through his voice Cato found it difficult to not sympathise with the brutality of his death. But then all he had to do was simply look at Faith, to see the torture in her eyes to know that she was constantly thinking of what she did, what she had lost, knowing that what she had done wasn't in the slightest justifiable for him to wipe the entire memory from his mind.

He shook his head of any more thoughts, pushing them out of his mind and walking into their now sort-of-shared bedroom, releasing a sigh of frustration at the fact Faith's suitcase was still empty and left in the corner of the room, when they would be returning to the Capitol. Reaping day was only five days from now, and Cato had suggested to Faith that she should begin packing now, as a way to take her mind of the fact that it would be a year since Mico's death, she had been on edge in the last two weeks leading up to it.

He sat on the side of the bed, picking up the phone off the bedside table and dialling the number of his home, waiting a couple of rings for his mother to eventually answer, knowing she had her hands tied up as much as she usually did since Ellie had begun walking. He smiled at the memory, and how his mother had made sure to record everything on the video camera he had gotten her when Ellie was born, and Faiths flustered expression as she continuously ran after Ellie to make sure she didn't run into anything and hurt herself. She was like a newly charge battery than didn't want to stop working, not that he blamed her seeing as she was now capable of getting places on her own without being carried or crawling, it was extremely adorable watching her do so.

"Hello?" Ivy's tired voice rang through the receiver, snapping Cato out of his thoughts.

"Hey, it's me I'm back."

"Oh Cato, you're later than usual."

"Yeah I know," he said, "they wanted me to meet a few more people last minute," the lie rolled off of his tongue so easily, he was even beginning to believe them himself.

"Right, well dinners at six, are you at Faiths?"

"Yeah actually, but she's not here is she with you?"

"Oh honey," his mother sighed through phone, and Cato could practically see her putting a hand to her head as she said those words, although he was confused as to why.

"You forgot didn't you?" She accused, and Cato's brows knitted together as his confusion increased.

"Forgot what?"

"It's _his _birthday; god knows where she is right now."

Realization hit him like a Capitol train at full speed, immense guilt consuming him and scolding himself at the fact that he could have been as so stupid as to forget Mico's fucking birthday of all people. Worry quickly adding into guilt as he now had no idea where Faith could be, and the possibility of her doing something out of stupidity in her current state was very likely, quickly bidding goodbye to his mother he hung up the phone, standing up and rushed down the stairs and out of the house. He had forgotten, he had forgotten possibly one of the most important days to Faith, he had even promised to be back before yet he still forgot, he had outdone himself in screwing up this time.

"Stupid, stupid stupid."

He continued to mutter under his breath as he lightly jogged down the street of the victor's village, knowing there was only a one or two places where she could have been, the first being where she took her walks up towards the mountains, he'd have to start there. Due to spending most of her time indoors it was rather difficult to figure out where she could possibly be, especially since his hour long trip up the mountains had been in vain, there was no sign of her there, and as he walked back down the victors village he tried reassuring himself that she was fine, that she was just hidden somewhere so that she could have time to herself, and that she would come home when she was ready to.

But overly dramatic scenarios of her hurting herself in different ways kept finding their way into his mind, creating paranoia deep inside of him as he fumbled with the keys in his hand, his eyes briefly flickering to Alec who was weeding one of the front gardens of the empty victors houses. He remembered how Alec was responsible for every victors things being transferred into their new home, hiring men to pick it up from their old homes, and it was in that moment where an idea had struck Cato. He wondered how he hadn't thought of it before; it was so simple that it was practically staring at him in the face, only he was looking too hard to see it. He turned around, heading straight back towards Alec, the old man turning to look at him with a blank but polite looking expression, and Cato offered a friendly smile as he opened his mouth to speak.

Cato made his way up the series of stairs in the block of flats, an entire complex of them located near the weapons making factory, passing kids who were playing around in the hallways with broken and blunt pieces of weapons, probably given to them by their parents who worked at the factory. He had remembered Faith mentioning a while back that she used to work there herself, after she had left the orphanage they had set her up with a small two bedroom apartment, it was where nearly all of the factory workers lived.

District Two didn't exactly have a poor or rough area, but in terms of being well off, the south side in which the apartment complexes where placed was not fortunate in that area, with the long hours at the factory the workers never got paid near enough the amount they deserved. However when it came to occupations in District Two the highest paid and most respected jobs where either Academy trainers, or the elected officials that worked along side the mayor in the Justice Building, along side various business owners and those who owned market stools.

He had been lucky, as Cato's stepfather had been one of the senior instructors at the Academy they were doing well in terms of income, it was something Cato was rather interested in looking further into it after his time of mentoring was over and passed onto a new victor. He missed the weight of a sword in his hand, he missed simply swinging it around and practicing it on dummies like he so often did back at the Academy, because he had spent countless years training with one it almost felt like another limb to him, and going this long without even looking in the direction of one was taking its toll, which is why when he had been given the chance to train Faith with one he had gone overboard.

He reached the fifth floor of the apartment block, walking down the hall and passing several doors, counting them down as he went, the memory of the door number Alec had given him earlier. The front door was left slightly ajar, allowing Cato to assume that she he'd eventually turn up, and pushing the door open he took a few steps in, rays of sunlight hitting the floor from the large window directly across the front door. A couch and a small brown old coffee table in between, the entire place quite open as to the left was a small white tiled kitchen, everything looking pretty bare as most of its contents had been taken and moved into Faiths new home, although a small silver television was placed above a fridge, old multicoloured letter fridge magnets scattered across it, little things spelt out as if someone still lived here.

Cato shut the door behind him, alerting Faith that he was here, and shoved his hands into his jean pockets as he begun walking softly to his right, a small hall leading down to the bathroom and bedrooms, going for the obvious and opening the door to Mico's room, a large poster insisting people keep out on the front of it. He smiled at the thought of Mico saying those very words, remembering how back at the Capitol he would become annoyed if Faith never knocked before coming in, and he saw her, sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed, her legs crossed and hugging his pillow to her chest.

She turned to him, her eyes red from her obvious continuous crying, she attempted a weak smile towards him as tears streamed down her face, but it dropped quickly as another sob escaped from her lips, and she buried her head in the pillow she held tightly. Cato sighed quietly and moved towards, talking a seat beside her on the floor, drawing his knees up and wrapping an arm around her shoulder softly, and with his other hand pulled her hair back softly, his hands running through them soothingly.

"You're late," her voice was muffled by the fact her face was still in the pillow, but lifted her head soon enough to look at Cato in the eye.

He gave a soft smile, wiping a few stray tears off her cheeks, apologising softly, and both becoming silent as they simply sat there, staring into each others eyes.

Faith's grip on the pillow became tighter, and she looked down to it briefly, "It's the only place I still feel close to him, I can even still smell him on this."

She took a deep breath, holding in a sob as her eyes watered once again, "being here again just makes it feel like he's still here."

He watched her as she begun to cry again, his chest tightening at the fact she was still so distraught by the loss of him, not that he expected her to be completely over it, but he had thought she was getting better, yet when he watched her now she seemed just as devastated as when she had first left the arena. He didn't know whether it was because the birthday of Mico arose hundreds of memories that hurt too much to smile over, or that she was just getting better at hiding how upset she was over it; she just had a habit of confusing the fuck out of him sometimes.

He wrapped both arms around her, head burying itself into the crook of his neck and rested his chin on top of her head as he let her cry, only going on for a couple of more minutes until she calmed down. Her grip on the pillow loosened, and her head turning so that she could look up at Cato, a deep shaky breath coming out of her mouth as she huddled closer to him.

"Tell me about your dad," she whispered quietly, her eyes still glistening with unshed tears as she looked up at him.

"You know just as much as I do, which is practically nothing." His tone took on a level of bitterness, peaking Faith's curiosity as she continued to watch him.

"There must be something you know about him, tell me."

He was more than reluctant to talk about it, but if he and Faith were going to attempt at a relationship then there needed to be a certain amount of honesty between them, this was her wanting to know more about him, to feel something other than pain for once.

"He died as a tribute in the Games, he volunteered at eighteen and was top of his class," a small bitter scoff escaping his lips at his next words, "knocked up my mother before that, she says they were in love, and that's why he volunteered."

Faith remained quite for a few moments as she watched his face, his jaw tightening in anger at the thoughts running through his mind, the pain his mother had went through raising him on her own, without any help and un-married, at such a young age herself and had not complained once.

"Is that why you volunteered?" She asked quietly, sitting up more and turning her entire body so that she was facing him.

"Kinda', but that was just half the reason, my step-dad was an Academy instructor, he met my mother when I joined at Twelve, he was alright I guess, trained me up and things, only he died 'cause he had a history of heart problems and again we were left on our own."

The room became silent, Cato staring into the opposite wall with a glare, the muscles in his shoulder tensed at the thought of how hellish things had turned out for his mother, speaking once more with his tone becoming higher.

"You know she calls herself Poison Ivy? 'Cause she actually thinks she's poison, she think she brings bad luck to anyone she loves. It's fucked up."

It was times like these when he wished he was alone, because he only ever un-winded and let these thoughts consume him when no one was around to see him lash out, and only returned to the real world when he felt a small hand run through his hair, coming to rest on his cheek turn his gaze back towards Faith. She grasped his head in both hands, green eyes clashing with blue as she looked at him in complete wonder, and he stared back, waiting for what ever she had to say.

"When I first met you I thought you were just an air headed, camera loving selfish brute," he let out a small chuckle at her words, remembering how much they clashed back then, "but when I see you now, you're everything I thought you never were, you did everything you did for your family … and you don't know how magnificent you really are for that."

He replied to her statement by leaning in, his lips softly touching hers in a kiss, waiting for her to respond by pressing her lips firmly against his. Her arms moved to wrap around his neck, leaning backwards a little as he leaned forward in their kiss, his arms gripping her waist, holding her tightly. He craved the close contact, the feelings of being intimate with someone who he knew cared for him a great deal, it erased the self hatred he so often felt, and Faith managed to pull it off so effortlessly, she wasn't even aware of the fact that she could do it, completely oblivious to the power she had over him.

They parted for air, his forehead softly touching hers, noses grazing each other as he regained the air he had lost, the both of them watching each other, he closed his eyes as he breathed in her scent, engraving it into his memory and labelling it as the one scent he loved so much, what made him feel as if he had a home. He stood and pulled her up with him, tossing Mico's pillow back onto the bed, pulling her gaze away from it to look at him, his hand tucked under her chin as he once again saw the pain consume her, and kissed her on the forehead, taking her hand and leading her out of Mico's room.

She followed him out wordlessly, down the small hall and into the open living room, tugging on his hand as she stopped there, her eyes roaming over her old home, landing on the fridge magnets in the kitchen, reading in her head the small notes she had made out of them with Mico, such as appointment times for his dentist, or joking insults that he had put there himself.

"Was it bad?" her voice was barely a whisper, letting him wrap his arms around her waist from behind her, staring into the kitchen intently, "when he called for me, was it bad?"

Cato hadn't thought about that since the end of her Games, he hadn't wanted to because it was unbelievably hard to handle, he was just a child forced to withstand the pain and torture that the Careers inflicted upon him. He wouldn't admit this proudly, but it had become so unbearable that he had to switch the television off, he didn't want that entire thing etched into his memory for the rest of his life, and he didn't want his last memory of Mico to be one where he was screaming in agony and for help.

"You need to stop this self torture Faith."

"But was it bad?"

"Will it put your mind as ease if I told you?"

She turned around in his grip, her hands resting on his upper arms as she looked to the ground, proceeding to run her hands through her hair and face messily, making her look even more of a mess than she already did, especially inside her head.

"I j- I just keep thinking that if I'd done things differently, if I wasn't stupid enough to let _him_ stay with us then- then he would be here instead of me."

"Stop this Faith, because you need to stop thinking about the 'what ifs' and 'if only', they're not gonna change anything … you need to completely let go."

"But I don't think I can," she muttered, rubbing at her eyes with her fist, "and I don't know how."

"Well for starters, you need to sell this place, there's nothing wrong with remembering him, but here there are so many memories that you feel the opposite of happy, it's hurting you too much being here."

She nodded, although looked a little uncertain of his words, and let him once again take her by the hand and lead her out of the flat, he closed the door behind her, and their fingers intertwined as they walked together down pathway and towards the stairwell. The laughter of playing children echoing around the block as the sun began to slowly set, the couple walking in a comfortable silence, as they both mulled over their previous conversations.

An extremely large amount of happiness growing in the pit of Cato's stomach at the words Faith had said before, trusting in him so much, knowing she had that much conviction in his actions and choices, wholly believing that he was a good person had him feeling as if he were on cloud nine; no matter what job Snow thrust upon him, as long as she continued to believe in him, then he was content.

"So is this your first time in the slums or District Two?"

She smiled at her own joke, voice fairly quite but wanting to lighten the mood, her attempt to make it feel as less depressing as possible, hand still held firmly in Cato's as they reached the last steps in the flat.

"I wouldn't exactly call this the slums."

He let out a bark of laughter at her statement, releasing his hand from her hold to swing his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her in closer to his chest. He kissed the top of her head as she wrapped and arm around his waist, her head leaning lightly on his shoulder as they walked, and he couldn't help but think of how perfectly she fit next to him, almost as if they were two puzzle pieces that fit together wonderfully, especially since they were both aware of how much they meant to each other. Yet even then both Faith and Cato seemed to still be completely unaware of just how deep those feelings went.

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**I have no excuse. I really don't, so I'll just apologise for how late this is, but I did delete it and completely rewrite it from Cato's POV … still I am very sorry I was slacking with this chapter immensely. **

**On that note I've noticed that reviews have plummeted a dramatic amount in the last few chapters, and it's not that I'm not grateful for the people who do, but it's caused me to think that maybe I'm doing something wrong with the story? I feel as if that people don't find it very good anymore. So if I am doing something wrong then tell me, please?**

**Guest: Thank you so much, I'm glad you liked it and I hope the same goes for this one! :D**

**DGFleetFox: I was happy to see that you had reviewed once more, I was thinking 'woah this ones on a roll' haha, thank you so much for all the lovely reviews! Don't worry I do the exact same thing, although when it comes to the character of Faith I don't have a specific actress/person in mind, so you're free to chose whoever you like when reading the story Ha, it's definitely obvious, only they haven't actually taken the time to really think about just how deep their feelings go, again thank you for your lovely review and hope you like this chapter!**

**Gusmer: Thank you! And Hmmm I'm not sure atm, she seems to try and separate her personal life from her work because she doesn't want anything to be ruined, and yes I guess you will! Haha thank you for reviewing!**

**PeppermintAmortentia: Yeah it looked like a lot of people were; I didn't expect it to be such a shocker! And awwww thank you that means a lot, and I hope you continue to think that! :D and I'll try!**

**Alwaysamarauder16: Haha sorry bby! I'll make sure to do it this time! Haha you're just too cute :3 and yes don't worry they'll still be Mr. and Mrs Smith hahaha just different occupations! ILUSM! You're just as awesome K? K. **

**Kiralol101: Woahhhh, whatta review! Really? You never saw the party coming? IDK it seems so strange when people say that because I always genuinely think that what I write is so predictable! Ha I think the drink had a large part to play in their argument, their first real one! And haha I laughed when I saw that part, but at least I know what you mean! ;) they're definitely not normal! They're both as crazy and as short tempered as each other, and yep she definitely does need to listen at times! As for him finding out about her job, we'll just have to wait and see when that happens ;) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LONG AND WONDERFUL REVIEW! It means so much to me :3 Haha yep it was definitely one of those times! You watch Jersey Shore? It was like those times when Deena gets ridiculously drunk and is like "I'm fineeeee" and five seconds later she trips over. THAT WAS ME! **

**C0nt0rt3dm1nd: Ohhhh, not a bad one I hope? And yep, they really are a bunch of animals really! And haha same! And now instead of Story Alert it's "follow story" I don't like it! I don't like how they've changed the layouts either, thank you fore reviewing once again darling!**

**HermoineAndMarcus: I will and thank you!**

**LulliCullen: Hey! Thank you and I hope you like this one!**

**FYINichole: Ohhhh don't worry! They'll be LOADS of angsty moments to come! Everythings not going to be perfect forever! So don't be sorry cause I love them too! I actually love writing them sorta of moments, I'm just not giving this girl a break at all! Thank you and I hope you liked this one!**

**AlexShah: Haha IKR, its like "ohh shit just got real", and really? I left so many hints about what his job was, I thought people would see it coming for miles away! And yeah, they're really dysfunctional together, but it works for them! Thanks for the review my lovely! :D**

**JustAPersonWithAPony: Meee tooooo! I love me some angst and romance :3 it's the best parts in the story! And THANK YOU SO MUCH! It's so lovely for you to say all of that, I love that you love my story :3 and I hope you continue to love it until the very end! **

**Roxgirl2456: Hello new reader! I always love new reviewers :D It's so wonderful for you to think that, I seriously don't deserve that many compliments but its so wonderful for you to think so highly of my story! So thank you so much! I hope you stick around until the rebellion because things will really get interesting then! Hope you liked this chapter and thanks again for the review! :D x**

**Saiyanprincess711: Hey! Yeah its quite sad that they make the victors do all these horrible things, but hopefully they can stick through it all! And thank you for your lovely comments, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reviewing every single one! **


	26. Walls

"_You Think I'm Pretty Without Any Make Up On, You Think I'm Funny When I Tell The Punch Line Wrong, I Know You Get Me So I Let My Walls Come Down. Before You Met Me I Was Alright But Things Were Kinda' Heavy You Brought Me To Life, Lets Go All The Way Tonight, No Regrets Just Love, You Make Me Feel Like I'm Living A Teenage Dream." – Katy Perry; Teenage Dream._

* * *

"Go away."

I murmured, burying my head deeper into the pillow, squeezing my eyes tighter as sleep faded away and consciousness reared its ugly head, a few more minutes, that's all I wanted, a few more minutes of sleep before insomnia would take over me for the next few weeks. I heard Cato chuckle from beside me, continuing to nuzzle his face into the crook of my neck, breathing in the scent of my hair which was sprawled out over me. His warm breath caused the skin on my neck to tingle, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up as he caused the butterflies in my stomach to soar, only he would have the ability to do such a thing at such an early time in the morning.

"Come on sleepyhead, big day today."

His lips softly made contact with the skin beneath my earlobe, before the warmth of his body and arms completely disappeared as he hauled himself out of bed, pulling the duvet and sheets with him. I groaned in disdain as cold air kissed my skin in an unpleasant manor, rolling over and rub my eyes a little as the early specks of sun made its way through the window.

"It's not like we actually have to be there, we could just sleep in until we have to board the train," I mumbled, lying flat on my back and staring at the ceiling above, yawning openly as Cato shuffled around the room, pulling out his clothes for the day and for his shower.

"As tempting as it is to spend another couple of hours resting beside your snoring face, we have mother dearest and Ellie to say bye to, and the reaping's televised … so yeah we do kinda' have to be there."

I ignored the second half of his response and launched one of my pillows at him, succeeding in it hitting him at the back of his head, not that he took much notice to it, nor did it have any real effect except for bouncing off of him and falling to the floor. He snorted as he turned his head back to look at me, a playful glare dancing on his lips as he came to sit on the side of the bed, placing his large hand on my knee as I grumbled out a reply.

"I do not snore."

"Your ability to only listen to the insults out of the many things I say to you is really remarkable."

I rolled my eyes at his words, swatting his hands away from my knee before getting up myself, and walked over to the drawer across the room, picking out an outfit that I knew would cause Gold to have a seizure, not that I cared much on how I was present on television today. It wasn't exactly something to celebrate in the first place, only I seemed to be the only person in District Two to think so, while everyone else practically bounced with excitement in excitement and anticipation for this day, now that confidence and belief in District Two bringing back winners had been restored, people were practically itching to see the Academy's volunteers this year.

"Hey," Cato's voice lost the teasing tone it once held, taking on one of softness and concern, his arms wrapping around my waist, chin resting on my shoulder as he pulled my back into him.

It was common knowledge between us both on why exactly I was dreading this, because exactly a year ago today was when Mico and I were entered to play the Games, a memory I would give anything to erase from my mind. Unfortunately for me life was no where near that easy, and attempting to bear the pain that came along with the next coming weeks was all I could do until it was over. I leaned my head back against Cato's chest, who still towered over me in his ridiculous height, his arms encasing me in warmth and some form of serenity.

His dipped his head down, softly kissing my bare shoulder, whispering in my ear soft reassurances, "it'll be over before you know it, I promise. I'll be there for everything."

I nodded, turning around in his embrace to face him, my hands grabbing onto his upper arms, although due to his large muscle tone could fit no where near around it, and looked up into his crystal blue eyes. They looked far beyond his actual age, like an adult who had seen many things in their life, when in reality he had only just reached the age of twenty, already he had seen things that had forced him to behave older than he actually was. From such a young he had done nothing but help his mother get by, never having a constant male figure in his life to look up to, and he took it all in his stride, on the outside he didn't seem like anything of the sort, just a strong, confident and arrogant District Two winner.

I reminded myself that that was the Cato I would most likely be spending my time with in the Capitol, not that his alter ego was that bad, he was the one I had spent most of my time with in the week leading up to the Games, he was the one who had clashed with my personality so much. Although that still happened now, both being fairly confident, and in some ways individually independent, so we were bound to clash heads from time to time. I was extremely relieved when our playful insulting banter had returned, because it was what I was first comfortable with when around Cato, what I knew best to be like when around him, and learning of his other side only made me feel as if I knew him that little better.

Which was more than I could say for me, guilt coursed through me every time I failed to confess of my real occupation to him but for some reason I failed to do so every time I tried, it was as if my brain was physically stopping me. I don't know I guess this was my own way of protecting him from anymore chaos, with his own occupation and the stress of having a family to look after, I didn't exactly think this was another burden that he deserved to carry, it was something I could handle myself; that's what the old Faith would have done.

Although arguably I could say that she didn't exist anymore, not after the Games, I had become too broken to return to the stoic and passive girl I once was, my ignorance was in definite need of going, especially as that exact trait was what cost me so much. I was scared to be completely honest, I had grown to know Cato like the back of my hand, and he was not the person to just sit back and watch this happen, he would get himself killed trying to get me off the hook, and no one else was going to die because of me.

I stood on my tiptoes to unite in a kiss with him, a tender one which reminded me of one of our earlier kisses after I had met his mother, it felt shy and new again, like I was meeting him for the first time. It never got old, not once did I ever have a thought where I was used to this sort of affection, I felt like some giddy school girl every time he laid eyes on me, because I knew he looked at no one else the way he looked at me, and it made me practically jump for joy inside.

His arms tightened around me, almost lifting me off the ground as my hands grabbed onto his neck, him deepening the kiss until he practically forced my mouth open for him to dominate, I smiled through it as I bit on his lip slightly, my hands weaving into his hair. Seconds could feel like minutes with him, sometimes even hours, and even then it still never felt as if we had enough time together, especially when I kissed him, and I heard him growl softly as he backed me into the drawer behind me, hearing a loud clang with it.

"Whoa," he breathed as he parted from me slightly, breathing in air as he looks at my flustered face, his eyes dark as he loosens his hold on me.

"Cold shower … definitely a cold shower."

I grin at him as I ease out of his grip, flicking his forehead out of habit and picking up a hairbrush, watching him as he pulls of his wife beater, leaving be gaping at the defined muscles in his shoulders. It still shocked me now, how well he kept in shape and how perfect he managed to look, it were almost as if he were genetically enhanced by the Capitol, and he could definitely give Finnick Odaire a run for his money.

"Why didn't Enobaria mentor with you last year?"

Cato briefly turned to be as he stood at the doorframe, a fresh towel and set of clothes in his arms, his eyes becoming hard as I assumed thoughts of Enobaria crossed his mind. The woman was vile and bluntly rude on the rare times I had met her, her cold chilling gaze practically screamed that she wanted to tear your throat out, and the thought of having her as a mentor was far from a pleasing idea.

"It was her own personal punishment to me," he scoffed, a hand running through his blonde her as he sneered at the thought of her, "suffering the first year of mentoring because of my failed victory."

I stopped midway of my actions, pulling the brush away from my hair, which had grown a considerable amount, due to the good care that the Capitol it always felt soft and replenished now. I walked towards him, standing in front of him on the doorway, knowing that the conversation of Enobaria was over, and poked him on his bare chest with the handle of the brush, earning a tired grin from him as I attempted to return the mood to what it once was.

"Race you to the bathroom."

I bolted before I had even finished my sentence, catching Cato off guard as I raced down the hall and heard his chuckle behind me, my bare feet padding against the floorboards. I let out a surprised yell as I felt one arm snake around my waist, the other grabbing onto my bare legs, his hand feeling cold against my skin there in the pyjama shorts I wore. He held me rather lopsidedly as I laughed at him, his half hearted grip on me making me think that at any moment I could drop to the floor, I looked up at him as he arrogant smirk was aimed at me.

"You cheated," I huffed out, as he softly put my back on my feet in the bathroom, and I smacked him on his shoulders with the brush I still held.

He rolled his eyes at me as he turned on the faucet in the shower, the entire thing encased in glass, while the rest of the bathroom was white marble, the bathtub on the other side of the room a large oval shape, clearly made for relaxation rather than actually washing. Steam slowly rose from the steaming hot water in the shower, and I kept my playful glare aimed at Cato as he tested out the water, chuckling once more as he briefly looked me at.

"I never said I played fair ginger," his eyes took on a mischievous glint, "now, you getting in or what?"

My face must have taken the colour of beetroot red, because he began laughing rather loudly at my expression, and I cracked a smile with him, letting him encircle his arms around my waist, his lips claiming mine for the second time that morning.

The morning went from good to bad practically in a second and now as I sat on the train in chair besides Cato, trying to bear the awkward silence between us and the two tributes before us, I couldn't help but add on another reason as to why I wished I wasn't here. One leg was crossed over the other in the black pencil skirt I wore, my cream blouse tucked into it, and my elbow rested on my lap as my chin lay in my palm.

I softly let my chair swivel from side to side as the silence continued on, Cato's impassive yet intimidating stare beating down on the promising tributes in front of us. His button up shirt was undone from the top, no longer tucked into the plain black trousers he wore, leaning back into his chair with his hands resting on the handles as if it were his throne.

The male tribute this year was a volunteer – shock there – and was the epitome of a model winner for District Two, his hair a dark and dirty blonde, and eyes as dark as his heart and soul appeared to be, matching Cato in muscle tone yet not fully reaching his height, though both men still towered over me a dramatic amount. He was undeniably good looking, only it was easily overshadowed by the chilling smile he wore, as if he weren't fully there, as if he could snap and grab a knife at any moment, I don't ever recall seeing Cato appear that way.

Strike Walter was his name, and it seemed to fit rather well, it matched his crazy-for-murder persona in a nutshell, and I was more than pleased I wouldn't have to be spending anytime with him for the next week; he was Cato's problem, and Cato looked as if he were going to have a field day putting this kid through hell.

The girl – Noelle Aubrey – was without a doubt one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen, she was destined to take the breath of every single Capitol member the moment we stepped off the train. Her almond shaped eyes were coated with thick lashes, and skin a perfect bronze colour with perfectly long and thick black hair, lips full and a dark pink, but her best feature was the remarkably bright blue eyes of hers, drawing in even the most cold hearted people.

They stood out like a sore thumb and I knew for a fact that was a done deal in terms of sponsors, she was going to be worshipped like a goddess one we arrived, and I could already imagine her face printed on shirts and banners that would become merchandise once she entered the arena.

She did have a flaw however, which was her ridiculous knack for showing no form of emotion on her face, not even a glare, she didn't look pleased or cocky, no confidence, not even a word had been uttered from her mouth; she was a robot. That was a lot coming from someone like me, and I was the ultimate emotionless bitch when I first stepped on this train, but this girl wouldn't even respond to a simple question, and I knew that the key to her would be patience.

"Wipe that stupid smirk off your face kid, 'cause that's whats gonna cause your death the moment you step off the podium."

Cato's voice was hard and calm, keeping his face neutral as Strike's grin only became wider, making me feel uneasy as he watched us both, his eyes skimming my attire briefly, turning into a smirk as his eyes connected with mine. I stared back at him, daring him to break contact first, and from the corner of my eye I could Cato's grip on the arm chair tighten; he hated this kid.

"Sorry," he muttered cockily, his eyes going back to Cato before he hunched into his seat lazily, rolling his eyes as if he were the mentor when Gold stepped into the compartment, sneering at her as she happily greeted us all.

I was the only one who stood to actually welcome her in a soft hug, watching her pour a glass of red liquid for herself before she took a seat to my right, babbling on about gossip from the Capitol, assuring the tributes that they would love it, completely unaware of the tension that filled the room now.

Her hair was still the platinum blonde it was the last year, although she had swapped all the silver clothing and accessories for midnight black, her eyebrows and lips coated in the colour, and my simple guess was that she had been inspired by Karina's dark punk look. Her tight black hot pants were matched with a black camisole, a short black blazer over it, sipping on her wine as she gushed excitedly about this years Games.

I looked back to both tributes, Strike still having a cocky glaring contest with Cato, while Noelle continued to stare at the wall behind my head, both of them dressed in the maroon coloured Academy shirt, the Districts logo imprinted on the left breast, it was a shirt only the last year graduates wore. I cocked my head to the side, aiming to catch the attention of Noelle, momentarily distracted from her daze locked eyes with me, and I had to hold in a gasp at the way she stared at me, as if she could see completely through me and into my soul.

She was definitely not going to be just a pretty face; this girl could probably even make Strike feel intimidated by that plain stare of hers, which made me curious to see what a glare on her perfect features would look like. I gave her a small uneasy smile, trying to rid myself of the tension she brought with her stare, trying to encourage some sort of reaction out of her, after all I was going to be giving tips to this girl on how to survive, not that she looked like she needed to, she was clearly the top female in her class.

This was not going to be easy.

"I hate him," Cato seethed, his fists clenching as he paced back and forth in the carriage bedroom, I nodded absentminded as I still pondered on why Noelle was so emotionless, changing into the cotton pyjama shorts and a shirt that I had brought a long with me.

They would have to tie me up and gag me if they wanted me to get into this ridiculously short silk night gowns they provided in my closet next door, as they all though I would have a separate room to Cato. Who looked as if his head were to implode, not that I necessarily blamed him; Strike was a rather annoying piece of shit, turning his nose up every chance he got at the dinner table.

"I couldn't tell," I muttered, wondering just why Noelle was so persistent in keeping to herself, when she clearly held just as much skill as Strike did, it had me thinking that maybe she wanted to keep people guessing on what she was capable of, or maybe not bothering to make ties because she knew of the odds in the Games, but then again for a typical District Two citizen losing never crossed their minds.

"He's so fucking arrogant, and nasty … he already thinks he's got it in the bag!"

"Remind you of someone you used to know?" I mused, a small smile playing on my lips as I pulled back the duvet, my smile growing wider at the irritated glare he gave me, standing at the foot of the bed in boxer shorts and a plain white T-shirt.

"That's not funny," his tone was dark, clearly not amused by my input, "I was _nothing_ like him when I volunteered. Cocky and rude yes, but that kid looks like he'd be ready to eat the flesh of every kill he makes."

I rose an eyebrow at his way of describing Strike's personality, not that it was completely off key, but the fact he was so clearly rattled by this little boy was amusing, I stifled a small chuckle as I fluffed my pillow, throwing all the decorative ones on the floor beside the bed, leaning over to do the same for Cato, who still continued to pace back and forth throwing every insult at the boy he could possibly think of. Bringing in Strike's ignorant and blood thirsty comments on each tribute we saw as we re-watched the reaping in a viewing room, he looked ready to pounce on the District One female, almost as if he could barely keep it in his pants; almost as if he were fourteen years old and not eighteen.

"And the way he looked at you," Cato scoffed out, standing once again at the foot of the bed as he made eye contact with me, his eyes burning with anger, "like you were a piece of _meat, _like he could have you in bed in a second."

"Is someone jealous?"

I begun laughing, pulling my hair into a messy bun as I stood on top of the bed, making my way to the end of it where he stood and towering over him, my hands resting on his shoulders as he looked up at me, an irritated look on his face at my question. His arms gripped my waist in a possessive manor, pulling me closer to him and off the bed, so that I eased down to the floor, now looking up at him amusedly my hands still resting on his shoulders.

"I don't need to be jealous of _him_," He stated, his face inching closer to mine as he whispered his next two words, "you're mine."

I laughed again, elated that he would care this much over a silly boy ogling me, but entertained by the fact that it was simply that; a silly boy two years younger than him pushing on all his buttons.

"You know why it's so easy for him to push your buttons?" I asked him, my eyebrow rose as he shrugged non-committed, "Because you practically wave them around in front of him like a white flag."

He followed me as I crawled onto the bed, collapsing so that I was staring at the ceiling, feeling his arm move underneath my neck and pull me onto his chest, feeling it rise and lower as he let out a long breath, I wrapped an arm around his waist as he pulled the covers over us, his long arm then reaching over to the light switch beside the bed, encasing the entire room in darkness as we lay awake for those few minutes.

"Just cut him a little slack, be patient and don't give in … for all you know this could just be some big front and he might be shitting bricks behind it."

He snorted, lips grazing my forehead softly, "Yeah, he must be a real angel underneath it all."

"I'm being serious Cato."

"So am I."

I let out a little huff, my hand moving up to his shoulder and squeezing it softly to re-enforce my point, my eyes looking up and search for his in the darkness, not that it was a difficult task, and rested my chin on his torso as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, a small smirk playing on his lips.

"He's not nice at all Faith; you know you're wrong about this."

"I've been wrong before," I muttered, my eyes staring hard at his as I spoke my next words, "I thought you were a heartless asshole, how wrong was I there?"

His eyes narrowed at my use of tactics, knowing what I was doing and knowing he couldn't argue against it, and I grinned in victory as his face relaxed once more, giving me a silent form of compliance to my request. I leaned up, pecking him on the lips and whispering my thanks. His hand grabbed onto the back of my head, pushing me down for our lips to touch once more in a few soft kisses, and I had to admit I liked the growing confidence Cato had when it came to be affectionate with me, it were as if he was coming out of this shell where he locked up all forms of intimate contact with someone.

I sat up after a few moments, resting on my knees as I watched him with a smile on my face, laying there with one hand behind his head, the other holding mine as it rested on his chest.

"What?" He asked, remembering to lower his voice as everyone else on the carriage had retired to bed hours ago, and I placed a finger to my lips to emphasize this point, having Gold catch us out was top of not to do lost.

"It's just things are going so perfectly right now," I whispered quietly, watching his eyes soften a little, "and I can't help but think sometimes that its all gonna go wrong."

His brows furrowed in confusion and exasperation, sitting up softly, his face close to mine as his stare pressed me on for more answers, and it was a proximity I had grown to like. I let out a small sigh, my hand grabbing a fistful of his shirt, as if it could keep him put should he ever disappear, an old habit of mine that always kicked in at odd places.

"Things only stay good with me for a while, and everything fucks up after that," I said, watching the crease in his brow ease off, "that's why sometimes I get nervous, wondering if it'll happen this time."

His hand rested on the back of my neck, pulling my closer towards him so that our noses were practically touching as he spoke his next words, sound tired in a way, as if he'd worn out these words, when it was our first time having this conversation.

"You are just like my damn mother," he muttered, the other hand resting on my thigh as his eyes concentrated on mine, both my hands touching the base of his neck as I listened to his next words, his warmth breath kissing my skin, intoxicating me in a way that only Cato was capable of.

"There is nothing wrong with you Faith, nothing bad is going to happen now … yeah its been pretty shit lately but that's all behind us, I'm here and we are now … that's all you need to think about."

I blush softly as the ridiculous swarm of butterflies invade my stomach once more, making me feel like a silly school teenager like they always do, and it appeared as if I loved to hate them, because they had never attacked me before I met Cato, and I knew that only he would be able to make them surface from their slumber every time he so much as glanced my way, let alone said unbelievably sweet things like this.

"How is it that you always know the right things to say?"

I ask softly, my forehead pressing into his as he lets out a small quite laugh, our lips briefly skimming each other before he replied.

"I don't; they just sound right in the moment."

I nodded in agreement, mostly to just end the conversation, and force him back as our lips making contact, him pulling me along with him as he head touches the pillow below him, and our previous conversation now forgotten.

* * *

**First off – even though this isn't a Batman fic – I would like to offer condolences to those who have lost family members to the shooting in America at the Dark Knight Rises midnight screening, truly was heartbreaking to hear about and I hope the idiot who referred to himself as 'The Joker' is locked away for a lifetime.**

**That being said the movie was beyond phenomenal, it literally took my breath away, and it exceeded my expectations! Especially since I have waited four years for that film, I had to watch it twice in once day because I loved it so much! I strongly recommend that anyone who hasn't seen it … to go watch it NOW!**

**Anyway this really was the last hurdle of the 'filler season' and now that its out of the way it feels like a friggin' breath of fresh air! So glad that I'm done with it, I seriously felt so lazy when it came to the filler chapters, I just wanted to hurry on to the rebellion already, but this is good enough, because things really will change from here! As you'll later see Faith really can't seem to catch a break as the story goes on, but yes thank you for all the reassuring reviews, it did make me feel a lot better! And I hope you all continue to stay patient with me for the next few chapters as I build up the next plot!**

**But I am thankful that all of you have stuck through all my bullshit! So thank you, and I hope you liked the first glimpse of this years tributes, I LOVED writing Noelle, she's so much fun because she's like … just a blank board.**

**Replies:**

**AlwaysAMarauder16: But you are caaayute! Haha! And you'll have to tweet me what other chapters are in your top 3! I keep forgetting to ask! I love writing him this way, I'm writing him as he goes along two years after his games so he's going to change and grow up in ways, same with Faith, she knows she can't be the way she used to needs to mature. And muahahaha you'll have to wait a while for the rebellion! Although it's killing me that it's taking this long! I do want it to hurry up! For everyone's sakes! Thanks for reviewing my love and LY2!**

**Geekinpink22: Hey there! Thank you so much, I'm glad you like and I'm always thankful for your kind words of reassurance! It's so flattering to see that you think that! Means a lot so thank you for taking time to review my dear!**

**Justapersonwithapony: Thank you so much! It really has boosted my confidence back up! And thank you, I thought it was due time for a Cato POV since we hadn't had one in a while! And really? That means so much thank you! So lovely of you to say :3 Thank you as well for reviewing yet again, you never disappoint!**

**Kiralol101: Sorry I thought it was time to remember Mico a little, because I honestly miss writing him so much, and I miss him as a character! Yeah I think it was time for her to break down a little again, because she hasn't since her little 'episode', and yup I was glad he was there to pick her back up! Yes definitely, Cato had an aim to finish what his dad started, because it was like closure for him! And yep she's definitely found a place in the family dynamic of Cato's household! Hahaha, yep I was definitely screaming about being 'a blast in a glass' on that night, totally a good time! ;)**

**KnucklePuck26: Hey! Don't worry about it! Haha yep definitely twisted, not exactly functional or healthy at all! I know it is a little cringe worthy seeing him reduced to that level! And thank you that means a lot coming from a fellow author, especially one I'm a fan of! I know! I've noticed it in other stories, it's like people have given up a little! Ahh well I'll just keep on writing because I love this story too much to give up Thank you for your kind review and hope to see an update from you soon too!**

**HermoineAndMarcus: Thank you and I shall!**

**Guest: Thank you, I hope this chapter does it for you and that you enjoy it!**

**Rena: Thank you for taking the time to write a review for me, it makes me feel exceptionally happy so thank you! Yeah I thought it was a bout time I did another Cato POV! Because people seemed to love it last time! And ahhhh I don't think that'll be for a while I'm afraid! Thank you for reviewing and hope you like this chapter!**

**Brooke332: Thank you so much! Honestly encouraging reviews such as yours really do make me feel better! And yeah I get what you mean, I'm just so glad the filler part of this story is over and done with, and thank you for taking time to review this chapter and reassure me! It means a huge amount!**

**Guest: Hey! Thank you and I hope it was worth the wait!**

**IloafPeeta3: Loving the name! And ahhhh I'm glad you did too! Always lovely having a new reader! And It honestly means a lot for you to say that, it brings huge smiles on my face no matter where I am! Thank you for waiting patiently for each update and I hope this one was worth your while!**

**Lorraine: Thank you and I'm sorry! It's just rather difficult to write this, amongst the fact that I have work and ATTEMPTING to have a social life … isn't working though!**

**SaiyanPrincess711: Half way through editing what you sent me and than you, yeah I think its definitely needed, she needs some sort of stability in her life as the only constant thing before that is gone … Yeah I hope it does too! And That's something I actually hadn't given the time to think about, but it's open to interpretation so you can go ahead and think they did! Thank you for reviewing yet again my dear, you've been here from the start and that means a lot!**

**AlexShah: I miss him too! Yes, I think she really would have hit rock bottom if she didn't have that beautiful blonde in her life, and haha used from the Batman Comics my dear! Forget the film because that was just a joke! I know! It was so awful, because you can tell she's still beating herself up about it, thank you for reviewing dear and hope you like this chapter!**

**Guest: Thank you, thank you and thank you! Again it's great to know that people are taking time to review and reassure me of that little blip, and that honestly means so much to me! I love that you love this fanfiction ha! And I will definitely finish this story, whether it takes one month or one year! This story will be finished!**

**Well that's all folks! (looney toones style) HA! So yep, rate, review, fav, follow … do whatever you like and hope you all enjoyed the chapter!**


	27. Sound

"_Remember Those Walls I Built, Well Baby They're Tumbling Down, And They Didn't Even Put Up A Fight, They Didn't Even Make A Sound. I Found A Way To let You In, But I Never Really Had A Doubt, It's Like I've Been Awakened, Every Rule I Had You Breaking, It's The Risk That I'm Taking. I'm Not Ever Gonna Shut You Out." – Beyonce; Halo._

* * *

I stared at the finished products before me, both tributes in much better outfits than I had been in the year before, they looked fantastic. Karina stood in between them proudly by their carriage, both me and Cato side by side simply staring, well I was while Cato looked on disdainfully at Strike, who himself carried a bored expression on his face.

Gold clapped her hands together in delight, gushing over Drew and Karina for their wonderful and creative skills. Karina had gone back to her platinum blonde hair, with the tips dyed into a sea green colour, matching one shoulder dress to go with it, and as always she looked fantastic; colourful yet simple. While Drew simply kept his hair the same blue as the year before, not that he came across as one to keep up with the ever changing Capitol trends, he seemed to stick with his own style, and as usual kept mostly to himself.

I didn't understand how Karina still hadn't noticed the growing crush Drew had for her, the boy practically flushed the colour red every time she so much as looked in his direction, and when receiving a smile from her it was a whole other kind of shyness, the boy was beyond adorable.

Karina had really outdone herself this year; she had gone in a completely different direction from the Greek theme last year, going with a much more underrated style. She had dressed Noelle in long traditional black silk Kimono; baby pink cherry blossoms coated the sleeves and shoulders.

Due to her beautifully tanned skin and almond shaped eyes she fit the culture perfectly, almost as if she were royalty from over seas, her thick black hair was pulled into an elegant high bun, and they had cut new bangs that went completely across her forehead. Thick black eyeliner coated her eyes, and ruby red lipstick brought out her lips perfectly, she looked completely irresistible, especially now that here eyes practically looked like stars.

Yet even now she showed no indication to whether she liked how she looked, nor did she speak a word to Karina as she got ready; this girl was a complete enigma. Hell, she didn't even crack a smile when Strike had made a comment about his opinions on Cato's parade outfit sucked; even I snorted back a laugh at Cato's reaction to that.

Strike. I had absolutely no idea where to start with him, he was like Julian, Cato and Finnick combined into one; that was dangerous. I couldn't deny that the boy made me more than uncomfortable; in fact he terrified me, being in the presence of a boy who had multiple creepy personalities wasn't a privilege.

He was dressed fittingly for the same culture, except he was dressed in the way of a warrior, his robes were considerably large, the same material of black silk, however they had adorned his black robes with the design of gold intricate dragons on the back and torso. I guessed the look they were going with this year, and it seemed to be fairly fitting; they were going for graceful, yet deadly and sly, whereas most years they simply went for a fighting machine brute; it was clever, leaving you guessing just how deadly these two could be.

His strong jaw line was set, his face expressionless yet he held all the volatile thoughts he had in his eyes, squaring up other District tributes, a sneer sometimes making its way when he looked to other mentors.

"So when you get out there, wave … smile if you can," he said pointedly to Noelle, who did nothing but stare blankly back, "and just try to make them like you; sponsors are everything."

Strike scoffed, turning his back on Cato's glaring eyes and stepped up onto the carriage, and I placed a hand on his now tense shoulder to calm his nerves, he ignored it and turned to walk away, heading towards District Four's carriages, whose tributes had both already taken their places on the carriage. I turned back to Noelle, who was still standing with her eyes roaming, not a single emotion being conveyed through them or any other way.

I cleared my throat, successfully catching her attention and smiling, "you look beautiful."

To my surprise she nodded in what seemed to be gratitude, blinking at me, muttering words that would forever baffle me, "I'm glad you won your Games." She then proceeded to turn and stepped up onto the carriage, ignoring Strike's gaze and staring straight ahead as the doors opening, orchestra music booming throughout as the parade begun.

I stood there dumbfounded for several minutes, zoning out of Karina and Gold's idle chatter, still trying to comprehend the fact that she had actually _spoken_, and I doubted she would be doing that again anytime soon. She was just so … peculiar, yet I couldn't help but find myself liking her, for reasons completely unknown, except for the fact that she seemed like a trustworthy person.

When every carriage had left to present themselves for the first official time, mentors and prep teams dispersed, leaving their posts and mingling with others from numerous Districts, and I looked around, eyes roaming for Cato, finding him in a conversation with Finnick Odaire and Haine Titan from District Nine. They all seemed to be in some sort of light conversation, all three men chuckling quietly, button up shirts tucked in perfectly, and Cato's hands dug deep into his trouser pockets. Our eyes caught for a moment, before he waved me over, and four pairs of eyes followed him to stare at my form.

I walked over, offering a small smile to him as I came to stand beside him, my arms folding over my red blouse as he placed a hand on my shoulder, motioning to the two older men in front of him, nodding as Cato introduced Haine first, not that there was any need to. A small stubble coming through his sun kissed skin, barely any hair on his scalp but I was more than sure that was out of choice, and dark brown eyes that could make you feel uncomfortable should you get on his bad side.

"Haine won the 70th Games-"

"I know," I interjected, smiling at Cato as I gauged his reaction, "I do watch the Games," I added on as his eyes narrowed, a smirk forming on his lips at my sarcastic tone, aware that I had purposefully tried to make him look stupid.

Finnick Odaire snorted back a laugh, and Cato eyes turned dark as we stared at each other, his hand moving possessively to my waist, a silent promise that he'd get me back later. I turned my gaze away from him, taking in the sight of the undeniably beautiful man in front of me, hair so perfectly combed back and in set, a light shade of brown that went so perfectly well with his blue eyes. Finnick Odaire was indeed perfect; yet ridiculously creepy with the way he was grinning right now, like he was undressing me with his gaze, like he was god's gift to women.

"Finnick Odaire, but I'm sure you already knew that," He extended his hand, winking at me for dramatic, "my, you really are as breathtakingly beautiful as you are on screen."

I blinked, taking a second to comprehend the fact that something so cheesy had come from his mouth, his hand still extended as he waited for me to shake it, that god awful smirk on his face, and eventually I realised he was actually being serious.

"Okay," I said unsurely, trying to avoid his gaze as I eventually put my small hand in his large soft one, his thumb caressing my hand slightly, and immediately I drew back, my nose scrunching up in disgust at him, to which he only replied with a chuckle.

"You got a feisty one there."

"Yeah well she's no walk in the park," Cato laughed out, his hand on my hip pulling me closer into his side, kept my arms folded, remaining silent in their conversation, intrigued by how casually they spoke of the Games.

"How's District Nine looking this year?"

Haine briefly looked to both men, shrugging and letting out a long sigh, before muttering one word than had all three men grunting in defeated agreement.

"Bloodbath."

Was that how they did it? Within minutes of meeting a tribute they ranked them in which area they would die? That seemed a little harsh, I mean I knew that it would be more than easy to tell from the done deals to the guaranteed victors or final tributes, but I didn't see any harm in being optimistic. There were many tributes who appeared to be goners before they even stepped onto the podium, Annie Cresta for one, surprised us all by winning her Games, and I was pretty sure everyone would automatically think of Johanna Mason or Haymitch Abernathy, one of which was a complete fronter, while the other was simply smart in how he survived.

"What about Two?"

My head snapped towards Haine, who was looking expectantly towards Cato, and I watched Cato shrug nonchalantly, his eyes automatically narrowing as I guessed an image of Strike seeped into his mind.

"Both Academy students, the guy looks good … but he's too arrogant."

"He hates him."

I added, watching as Finnick grinned widely at my answer, while Cato scoffed, listening to him go into a full on rant about Strike, and I refrained from rolling my eyes one too many times during it. I could hear President Snow's begin outside, the crowd's roars calming for the briefest moment to hear the same sentence that he gave every year. To be quite frank it still hadn't hit me properly that it had already been a year, a year since everything had change; since I had volunteered, since I had met Cato, and since I lost Mico.

It was overwhelming, and as my mind delved deeper and deeper into the depressing memories I strayed further and further away from the present conversation, my mind wandering off at small memories of my own tribute parade, and when I had first seen the floor for District Two. That depression of the memories I always tried to keep shut to tightly were re-emerging, and suddenly I wanted to be anywhere but here, out in the open with nothing but reminders of what could have possibly been worst month in my life, I wanted to be alone and curled up in my bed, the world around me fading into the background.

"Cato, I'm gonna head upstairs … I'm not feeling too good."

Confusion etched across his features, his eyebrows narrowing a little at my pathetic excuse, "Uhm, alright then … you're okay right?"

"Yeah I'm fine," even I could tell that was a lie, due to the softness and quite tone of my voice, "I'm just gonna lay down for a bit and wait for you."

"Actually … uhm I've gotta go out tonight," my mouth formed into the shape of an 'O' and I had to remember not to let my face fall, because to be quite frank we already had enough arguments about this subject, and I knew it was troubling more than it ever would for me.

"Oh okay, I take it you'll be back late then?"

"Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm some twelve year old kid about to burst into tears," he quipped, his jaw tensing slightly, and it annoyed me a fair amount that he refused any form of sympathetic feelings from someone, "especially since I know you're not happy with it."

"I am not having this conversation here with you," I said sternly, my eyes becoming hard as the two victors stood awkwardly beside us, and since he was speaking so openly about the subject in front of them I assumed they knew, but it didn't mean I wanted our problems broadcasted to every mentor, "I'll just see you when you're back."

He visibly tensed at my hard stare, and placing a hand on his bicep I squeezed it softly, silently telling him that we were okay, that I didn't want to fight, before I walked past him towards the elevators. Karina met me there, excusing herself from a conversation with what looked to be District Twelve's prep team, and bounded over to me smiling. I forced one onto my face, hoping that the conversation would be short, for I longed to just delve into the luxury bed sheets and close my eyes.

I guess I was just annoyed at everything right now, annoyed that I wouldn't be able to ever fully be happy, annoyed that I was wrapped around Snow's little finger, annoyed that Cato was spending nights in other women's beds unwillingly, and annoyed that I knew it would always be like this. The life of a victor.

"So were you ever gonna tell me about Cato?"

"What about him?"

She rolled her eyes at me, as I waited with my arms folded for the elevator to make its way down, nudged me on my shoulder playfully.

"Please, I knew you wanted each other before either of you did," she laughed out, "don't worry my lips are sealed, I understand what it could mean if this went public."

I smiled gratefully at her, rubbing my eyes with my fist as I slowly began to feel tired, I wasn't exactly in the mood for girl talk at this current moment.

"So how long has it been?" She questioned, her eyes burning with curiosity.

"A couple of months I think," I muttered softly, fighting the blush that was appearing on my cheeks, "I haven't really been keeping track." I didn't understand why this information was so interesting to her; she clearly already knew something was there before I did, so I didn't exactly see the big deal in all of this.

"I take it you're still in the honey moon phase then?"

I stared confusedly at her, urging an explanation, and she laughed good heartedly at me, as if the explanation of that word was common knowledge, and she placed a perfectly manicured hand in my own as she stood beside me, her beautiful face brightening up at the opportunity of educating me in this field, because god knew I was a beginner to all this.

"You know, the first few months of a relationship, the period of where you can't keep your hands off of each other."

If I wasn't extremely embarrassed already by our topic of discussion, then I certainly was now, and Karina seemed to take nothing but complete joy out of my horrified expression, and as I stumbled and stuttered for some form of reply to deny her accusation, all she did was look to me sceptically.

"Faith, he finds any chance he can to touch you."

"That's not true," I mumbled, wringing my fingers together as my cheeks became redder, and I looked up for a moment to see that she wasn't looking at me, but behind me, smirking as I turned my head around, and sure enough Cato was looking in our direction, mildly distracted by the conversation he was in, and to avoid anymore embarrassment I tore my gaze away from him.

The elevator pinged, and the doors swiftly slid open, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I smiled softly to Karina, telling her that I would see her later when she followed the tributes up, and stepped in. She winked at me, waving half heartedly before parting with a few more words that absolutely mortified me.

"I bet he's great in bed."

Yeah, it just got worse.

I woke with a start, feeling slightly disorientated as I groggily sat up, rubbing my eyes to squint in the darkness. I had woken because something had awoken me, as if a door had been slammed, I looked over to the bedside table, seeing the digits on the class screen of the clock, and it was just past four am. A dim light came from my left, the bathroom door was left slight ajar, the sounds of a shower filtering into the room, and I had sussed out that Cato have may of only just returned.

I hadn't seen him since the tribute parade, for I had come up to my old room and fallen straight asleep, barely noticing my surroundings, not that much had changed, the floor for District Two was still decorated in its signature black and maroon red, the sheets as soft and comfortable as ever. I saw Cato's clothes from the parade in a heap on the floor, making me think that he must have come in after to change for his night out, he must have found me fast asleep and decided against waking me.

I had missed dinner then, and as if on cue my stomach rumbled, and I remembered that I hadn't eaten since lunch on the train, I decided that when Cato was done in the shower I'd then go see if I could get a snack. I pulled the red duvet back, and yelped softly as my bare feet made contact with the marble floor, the cold air conditioned room hit my bare legs fairly fast and I reached for my silk dressing gown at the foot of the bed before walking towards the bathroom.

My hand automatically went to shield my eyes from the sudden surge of brightness, and as soon as my eyes adjusted I saw that Cato was facing the mirror by the sink, drying his wet hair with a towel, freshly dressed in a grey shirt and dark blue boxers, a black tuxedo was crumpled in the bin beside him. I took to the thought that tonight hadn't been his best, but then again when it regarded his job I doubted they ever were. A sour expression was on his face, and even thought he knew I was there he refused to meet my eyes in the reflection of the mirror, almost ashamedly, for I had never been present for when he actually had a job, apart from the night we had gotten together.

"Sorry if I woke you."

His voice was quite, almost childlike and my heart went out to him, and I took a couple of steps towards him, hugging him from behind, my face burying into the back of his shirt. Slowly, but not forcefully he pried my hands away from his waist, turning around and pushing me back a little softly.

"Don't. Just please don't."

"What's the matter?"

My tone was soft, concern lacing it as I stared at his troubled face, I wasn't hurt by what he did, merely confused. He had never done that before, even when he would come back from a night in the Capitol, in fact he was usually eager to have any form of physical contact with me. This was new to me, he almost seemed disgusted with himself, like he couldn't bear to be touched, and when my hand reached out to him he recoiled away from it.

"Don't," he pleaded.

I ignored his warning, stepping closer to him, his back against the basin of the sink, and me closely in front of him, hesitatingly touching his chest. He visibly winced, but it didn't seem to be in pain, his head cast down slightly, and I pulled on the collar of his T-shirt, revealing his collarbone, and what lay there was sporadic love bites, a dark shade of red, and they seemed to go deeper beyond his shirt. My eyes narrowed in determination as I pulled on the hem of his shirt, requesting that I pull it off, and his silence served as compliance to me.

I pulled the shirt up his torso and his arms were briefly raised as I pulled it over his head, sure enough there were more, and they look more like dark bruises the more I stared at them. He failed to meet my eyes as my fingertips traced every single one, anger what ever mindless bimbo had done this to him, the fact that she had touched him at all pissed me off.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, and his broken voice practically tearing my heart apart, "I didn't want you to see me like this."

My hands shot to grasp his face, pulling it towards me so that he had no choice but to look me in the eye, my voice stern and confident, although that was the opposite of what I was feeling inside, only I knew that one of us had to be strong, Cato had more than earned the opportunity to break down now.

"You have _nothing _to be sorry about, you've done nothing wrong."

His hands grasped my own, his head dipping down so that his forehead leant against mine, and lips softly grazing the inside of my palm.

"That's not even the worst of it," he breathed out, peeling my hands from his head to turn around, only to stun me into silence once more. Deep and bright red scratch marks graced his back, between and over the shoulder blades, skin slightly torn and in some places dried blood. I could imagine some random Capitol woman with her false manicured long nails digging into his back, and the unpleasant feelings that followed it forced me to push the image back, reminding myself that Cato needed me right now. I kissed his back softly, resting my head on the space between his shoulder blades, my arms encircling his waist, and his hand came down to rest above mine.

"Stop punishing yourself Cato."

"But I don't want to have to do this for the rest of my life, I don't want you to have to look at me and think of nothing but where some random woman put her hands on me. I don't want you to _share_ me."

"I don't share you."

He turned back around to me, confusion laced into his features, and I smiled sadly at him as I once again took his face into my hands, wanting him to believe my words so badly, not for me but for him, so he could stop this quest of self hatred he began.

"I don't share your commitment to me, or the feelings you have for me … I have all of you in a way no one ever will."

I must have said the right thing, or he simply could have wanted to just shut me up, either way he reacted positively towards my words, lips crashing onto mine and startling me from our conversation. My hands weaved into his hair, still wet and soft from his shower, his lips pressing hard and forcefully into mine, tongue pushing through without consent from me, yet I obliged easily because I knew he needed this.

His hands fumbled with the robe of my dressing gown, undoing it shortly and pushing it off my shoulders, revealing the tank top and shorts I was so prone to wearing to bed, and his arms snaked around me waist tightly, pulling me closer to his form as if it weren't already impossible. His skin felt soft as my hands moved to his shoulders, probably due to the ridiculously skin friend shower gel the Capitol provided, roaming down his chest softly, and briefly hesitated when I touched his marks.

He stiffened, hesitating in his kisses, and I whispered softly to him against his lips, reassuring him.

"We're okay."

He nodded slowly, before meeting me in another kiss, my lip biting his softly causing and him to groan, and as if by reflex his hands moved down to the back of my thighs, his palms grabbing onto them and hoisting me up. My legs wrapped around him as he moved us out of the bathroom, bumping into the door due to him not looking were here was going, and he hesitated for a moment, the both of us smiling into the kiss as he used one arm to steady himself, the other holding tightly to my hip.

"I'm sorry," he muttered again, and if I hadn't been so caught up in his roaming hands and intoxicating kisses, I would have been in the right mind to tell him to shut up.

* * *

**I really don't like this chapter … like REALLY don't … but urgh I'm just feeling deflated with all these filler chapters, it demotivates me a little, all these chapters are literally just about establishing and building relationships really .. so enjoy the Faith/Cato while you still can cause after these games things will get preeettty tough. Yeah so, I hope you all liked this chapter.**

**LilyMapleberry: Thank you! Ahhh I like her too! And she has a much bigger role in the story than anticipated :D I will and happy reading!**

**Hazu23: thank you and you're welcome, I was so shocked when I found out about it but thought it was so lovely Christian Bale visited the hospital that the victims were in! **

**SaiyanPrincess711: You're welcome and I'll send it to you as soon as I'm done with it, I've done about half way, and yeah the tributes are definitely interesting! And she definitely struggles with the fact that he's running off with other women!**

**PiecesInTheirGames: I just can't help it! I love Batman and I love Christopher Nolan XD Awwwww I love all of those :3 thank you! I love how you call them all Shelob's now XD and sure you can! Feel free to have him … after me … and I actually didn't intend for that to happen at all, maybe subconsciously I did it … but yeah I didn't realise until you pointed it out XD Love you more booboo and thanks for reviewing :3**

**ILoafPeeta3: Thank you so much, I'm glad you do! Yes they're hard to understand, especially Noelle! But I love her! There will be a lot more coming with them! Thank you and thanks for reviewing!**

**Kiralol101: Thank you so much, its so lovely of you to think so highly of me XD I'm really not all that but thank you! And haha feel free to call him a douche, I don't mind! And if I made them typical careers it would be boring ;) Noelle is literally so fun to write, because she holds so much back, and Strike and Cato will definitely clash! And as for the Fato thing I hope this answers your question, I get quite embarrassed writing stuff like that XD and yeah the film was fantastic, yeah theres a lot of dialogue but theres more than enough amount of action. People forget that Christopher Nolan's batman serious is quite serious in the sense of it being about politics/justice and is a realistic take – its very compelling to watch because it completely draws you in emotionally, its definitely nothing like avengers!**

**Leay: Awww thank you so much, its so lovely of you to say and I hope I continue to keep your attention!**

**Brook332: Thank you! Yeah I love the tributes this year, both entertaining in their own ways. And Faith will HAVE to cope with mentoring otherwise she'll break down! Ha! Thanks for reviewing once again! :D**

**C0nt0rt3dM1nd: I KNOW IT WAS AMAZING! I went at ten am, then at ten thirty in the evening … I saw it another time after that XD HA The Cillian Murphy cameo was class! I loved it! I just kept hyperventilating over the fact Tom Hardy was so breathtaking as bane! And yeah hes meant to be a character made to be disliked, and yes stay tuned for Noelle, and awww thank you that means so umuch!**

**LuliCullen: thank you and hope you like it :D**

**Guest: Thank you, and you'll be seeing more of them soon! And thank you hope you like this chapter!**

**IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon : Thank you and glad that I did! :D x**

**PeppermintAmortentia: Awww thank you darling! And shucks … I'll try ;) same goes to you my dear!**

**Nelle07: I hate that too! It just eats you up inside!**

** .58: Thank you so much its so sweet of you to say, and I'm glad I have that effect on you haha because that's what I am to achieve! Thank you for reviewing and hope you liked this chapter!**

**PeetasMyBreadBoy: thank you so much, and as flattered as I am theres really nothing special about being british XD I'd LOVE to be American! And don't worry you're not going crazy haha, all will be revealed in due time my dear, I hope you stick around for it and that's an interesting suggestion. If it comes down to it I'll give it a go and see if it works :D thank you so much for reviewing it was lovely to read! **

**Blueheadblondie: Thank you so much I'm really flattered that you think so highly of my story, and I hope I continue to entertain you with this story! **


	28. Fear

"_I Used To Roll The Dice, Feel The Fear In My Enemies Eyes, Listen As The Crowd Would Sing, 'Now The Old King Is Dead! Long Live The King!' One Minute I Held The Key, Next The Walls Were Closed On Me, And I Discovered That My Castles Stand, Upon Pillars Of Salt And Sand." – Coldplay; Viva La Vida._

* * *

"_Look Noelle, you've gotta give me something here!"_

_I rubbed a hand down my face in a frustrated manor, sighing as Noelle gave me nothing but a blank stare, not seeming in the slightest apologetic for her silence. To be completely honest this was the part I was dreading most with her, the one on one session for the tributes interviews, she was a stone wall with emotion and human interaction. Not to say we hadn't made any progress, she briefly filled me in on what the Career pack was like, and it should be no surprise that Strike and her were seen as the leaders._

_District Four had no Career tributes this year, according to Cato my games had blown their self esteem on whether they could win or not which was of course ridiculous, you couldn't base your own skills on how someone performed the year before, and to be fair Julian was a hell of a competitor. I didn't even want to win, nor did I expect to wake in a medical facility days after, remembering possibly the worst week of my life, and the fact that people couldn't see that was a little annoying._

_I even had a child recoil away from me at one point, he looked terrified that I might snap his neck there and then, in the middle of the street, the fact that he was s Capitol member just topped it off. Seeing as they were the craziest about The Hunger Games and their contestants, it was something I truly didn't expect. The boy looked at me as if I was a monster, and I wasn't a monster. I wasn't. _

"_I don't know what to do anymore."_

_My head snapped up to Noelle, her face saying nothing but her eyes, for once, portrayed the complete and utter loss of what her voice felt. _

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I was sure on everything. I was ready until you … you were different, you didn't think or act the way normal volunteers from Two do."_

"_That's because I didn't originate from Two, I was raised in District Three until I was ten years old," I reasoned with her, now was not the time for her to feel insecure about her skills, she got a ten for goodness sake._

_She shook her head, before concentrating her stare out the window of the empty room, and I stared at her from my seat directly opposite, patiently waiting until she continued, having more than two syllables come from her mouth was practically a breakthrough._

"_It messes with my head, the way you fought and still held some form of humanity in that place … you did it all without a Career pack."_

_I practically snorted at her words, the absolute absurdity of the fact she had called me **humane** while I was in that place._

"_Noelle, I was far from humane with the way I dealt with things … and not joining a Career pack didn't do that well for me if I recall."_

"_You don't get it do you? No one from Two has ever turned their back on being a Career alliance, don't you realise the backlash of your choice in Two? Even Strike was second guessing himself at the Academy."_

"_Listen to me Noelle, whether or not you chose to join the Career pack is completely **your** choice, no one can tell you what to do. Nor can anyone predict the results of your choices in that arena …you make a decision and deal with what comes; sometimes it has good results and sometimes, like in my case, they're not."_

_I was leaning forward in my seat, my palms together as I gave her what she needed; reassurance. She wasn't insecure over her skills; she was confused as to whether she really needed to depend on being in an alliance in order to win. I was so caught up in myself and Cato that I hadn't bothered to pay attention to how far the ripples of my actions had gone, and from only hearing the effect it had on Noelle I didn't think I wanted to._

_District Two was all about a Career alliance, they were all about looking like the leader of a vicious group, I didn't know whether making them think twice on a Career alliance made them either more arrogant, or simply doubted their skill. It was confusing me, and I didn't have the time to be confused._

"_Thank you."_

"_For what?" I questioned, my eyes connecting with Noelle's dark ones._

"_For not doubling the pressure of needing to win, for being the only one to tell me I can make my own decisions."_

_I nodded softly, and began to give her advice on how to deal with Caesar's direct and sometimes personal questions. What did she mean by that? Were District Two tributes really that restricted and sheltered to the point of being told what to do and how to behave in order to win? Was it like that for Cato? Was I this ridiculously oblivious to everything around me?_

I thought back to that conversation as I watched the screen in the viewing room for District Two, nervous knots forming in the pit of my stomach, I couldn't seem to sit still either. The tributes hadn't even come up onto the podium yet, so I had yet to see the arena this year, and the tributes assigned clothing wasn't anything to go by. The plain black combat trousers and shirts weren't really helpful; the best Cato could give them was that the climate would probably be neutral, maybe getting colder at night.

I couldn't do this job, not for the rest of my life, the thought of having to give advice on how to kill and watching them do that very thing would be a recurring living nightmare, and I already had problems dealing with the ones in my sleep. I wringed my hands around the hem of my white polo shirt, pacing up and down the room with my head trained to the large screen. I was worried for her, Noelle seemed far from like District Two tributes, and she genuinely seemed to have a heart, despite how her facial expressions and body language contradicted that comment.

I knew I shouldn't be worrying, both Strike and Noelle had gotten the highest scores in the line up this year, District One closely following with a nine and eight. Both of whom didn't seem any different from their tributes last year, it seemed One was home only to people with blonde hair, as once again that was what we were given. Dre; the male tribute had ridiculously bright blonde hair, falling into his eyes, and I had the slightest suspicion that he may possibly dye it; it wasn't like he couldn't afford it anyway. Precious, which was literally the girls name, had the exact same shade, only covered it with streaks of purple and black. All in all entire girl looked ridiculous, with lips far too large for her face and a very obnoxious mouth.

"Morning," Cato chirped, his voice perfectly even and light, as if he wasn't about watch a bunch of kids slaughter each other, strolling in with a small shopping bag in his hands, placing a kiss on my temple quickly.

"And where have you been?"

"Gift shop."

He was so relaxed and nonchalant as he gave his reply, placing the bag on the desk in front of me, proceeding to wrap his arms around my waist, nuzzling my neck softly.

"You went gift shopping minutes before we're about to watch a bloodbath?"

I could practically feel his eyes rolling at my scepticism, but ignored my tone and replied as casually as he had before, his arms tightening around me. Before he pulled the bag in front closer to us, replying with the same indifference to the situation as before.

"I knew you were gonna be freaking out about you're first time doing this … so that's why I got you a little something to make you smile."

I almost burst into laughter at the product in my hands, pulling it out of its packaging, the plain coffee mug printed with an 'I heart Cato' font was the last thing I would ever imagine Cato doing to try and distract me. Aware that it may have taken him a while to find merchandise from his Games quite some time, seeing as they were two years ago, and I leaned back against his chest, turning my head to plant a kiss on his chin.

"You are so adorable."

He scowled at me then, narrowing his eyes and looking the opposite of intimidating, "don't call me that."

"What? Please tell me you do not feel emasculated with that name."

"_No_."

He released me to sit in one of the wheeled chairs at the desk, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, one you could tell he was fighting off. He begun pressing random buttons on the abnormally large keyboard in front of him, his fingers floating across the touch screen before him as well, so at ease with the hi-tech machines in front of him. They still puzzled me beyond belief, back in Two we were fortunate in the form of technology we had, but no where near this advance, only the Capitol could afford something like this. Obviously there was the thought that Snow wouldn't give the Districts the advantage of having this form of technology should a war ever break out again, but then again I didn't think the Districts would be silly enough to do such a thing seeing as it didn't end well for us the first time.

"I know you're worried," Cato interjected, pulling me away from my thoughts, he sat with his eyes trained on the screen, still tapping away at various keys, "but seriously these are top Careers, they've got it in the bag."

"I don't know its just Noelle seemed a bit off key the day before her interview … I'm worried that she's gonna freeze up or something."

"Well you care for her … that's a step-up from Enobaria and Brutus," he looked at me briefly with a carefree smile, and I returned it, taking a seat beside him and staring at the screen up in front of me, Caesar and Claudius sat at the same desk he did every year, speaking of each tribute, "I swear it was like they couldn't wait to get rid of me and Clove."

"Noelle will be fine Faith, I mean look at her!"

"Yeah, she is very beautiful," I watched him out of the corner of my eye, seeing his eyebrows knit together in confusion while he continued to type gibberish onto the screen.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"You said look at her, so I assumed you meant her beauty."

"Why would I be talking about her looks? I meant the fact her face and body language scream killing machine."

He let out a little laugh, as if my reply was stupid because his was obvious, and I rested my chin in my hand as my elbow rested on the desk, a smile tugging on my lips. I wouldn't have been jealous if he _did _mean her looks, but the fact he had barely paid attention to it was something else entirely, considering Noelle was one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen.

"You're saying you've never looked at her and thought she was attractive?"

Cato shook his head, and I could tell that his concentration wasn't even completely with me and this conversation; in fact he sat up straighter and spoke over a telecom briefly, whether it was to someone else or testing it I had no idea. Either way I could tell he was being truthful with the fact that he wasn't making an effort to keep eye contact with me because that was his ridiculous way of trying to convince me he was telling the truth, when he so clearly was not.

"Are you saying that whenever you look at a woman other than me or your mother you don't take into account whether they're physically attractive or not?"

"Why would I need to do that? I have you," I blinked at him, before an extremely wide grin spread across my face, and I leaned over to his chair, planting a soft kiss on the corner of his lips.

He smiled, although he still seemed to be confused as he turned to me, "what was that for?"

"For just being you."

He laughed, pecking me on the lips softly, and placed his arm on the back of my chair, we stared at each other for those brief few minutes, simply smiling at one another. It was moments like these were I felt like things were completely normal and perfect, where I felt like it was only just us two, there was no crap like what either of us were forced to do. It was peaceful and we were happy.

That momentary bliss was interrupted when the countdown began on the screen, slowly fading into the tributes being launched up, into complete and utter darkness. My own eyes squinted as I took in their surroundings, a long shot took over the screen and even then it was relatively dark, they seemed to be inside somewhere. It was a cave, yet they seemed to be a large clearing, many levels of tunnels and holes surrounding them and scaling upwards.

They were inside _something_ that was for sure, and it looked to be fairly cold, which meant it must have been freezing outside of wherever they were, which most likely spoke for the limited sets of large parker coats beside the Cornucopia. It was located in the middle, and was incredibly small this year, it look to be more a tunnel, entering from two opposite ends, I suspected that that was for the fact the tributes were placed around it in a circle.

The timer hit the twenty second mark, and our camera zoomed into Strike and Noelle on a different screen to see that they were nodding at each other, a plan they had silently formed. My stomach settled slightly then, knowing that they had each others backs, for now at least, would guarantee their survival for most of the Games. Even I couldn't have lasted too long on my own, I had Mico there with me, and although he was a child he was in no way unable to fight or fend for himself.

My stomach knotted even tighter at the thought of him, and at how this very moment last year I was staring at him across a river, ready to jump into a dirty fast current river to keep _him_ alive. I ran both hands over my face, pushing them through the roots of my hair, my knee jutting up and down out of anxiousness.

"Calm down."

Cato pulled chair closer to his, the wheels at the bottom making it an effortless fort, and his hand moved down to my waist, holding me there firmly, I grabbed onto the wrist of his other arm, the fabric of his blue shirt beneath it scrunching up in my fist.

And all of a sudden, the timer was done and it was as if the entire world descended into silence for the next few minutes, as every tribute on that podium jumped off, scrambling and sprinting across the dirt to grab their hands onto the deadliest weapon they could find.

Turned out that the tunnels the tributes had been placed into was a large mountain, which apparently took up most of the arena, with it snowing like there was no tomorrow on the outside not many tributes were too keen on leaving the warmth and safety of the mines. If you could call it that, it was a lot bigger than I expected, and what tributes remained after the bloodbath had gotten lost on more than one occasion.

Noelle surprisingly had made the first kill, and had dived for the male tribute from Three, snapping his neck faster than I would have anticipated; of course this automatically pushed from third to favourite to win.

A lot of tributes had been wiped out that day, a death toll of fifteen was in the top of quickest deaths, there had been one year where everything had began and started at the bloodbath, and it should be no surprise that the winner was from District Two. That had been before I was born though; the kids at the orphanage had spoken about it and gushed over the extremely old victor if he passed us on the street. The man had passed on long ago, before I had left the orphanage actually, but I still remember seeing him walk past, and upon first appearance assumptions you would never think that he ever killed twenty three tributes single handed.

Four days had passed since the bloodbath at the Cornucopia, and not a lot had actually happened since then, it had quietened down considerably. With the Careers staying in the clearing at the Cornucopia, the remaining five tributes, which consisted of both male and females from Seven, a boy from Ten and Six, and a girl from Four, they had all disbanded and gone in different directions.

So it wasn't at all a shock when mutations had been brought into the mix, with no other danger in those tunnels other than the fact that they were living in near complete darkness, flesh eating beetles had been brought into then mix. It was quite creative actually, they travelled within the ground and walls, the only warning that were coming was the sudden lift of the dirt as if they were moles. They travelled in packs of thousands, which was what got the girl tribute from Six after she had just escaped the Cornucopia, keeping the outer Districts on a constant move and sleeping very lightly.

The only place they never went was the clearing with the Cornucopia, and I had a feeling that the Game makers had done this purposefully to make the tributes go back there, driving them to the Careers and obviously ending the Games.

The flesh eating beetles had also been the reason as to why the Careers rarely hunted, not that I blamed them in the first place, since the parasites left nothing but left over flesh and chiselled bone after they were done. They had all the supplies they needed at the Cornucopia anyway, barrels of water to last them weeks if rationed well, and trunks of dried fruit and vegetables gave them all the strength they needed.

There was only one other water supply inside the mountain, and it was a rather small lake deep beneath the mountain, and unfortunately for the outer Districts it was the nesting grounds for the beetles. So they didn't try venturing down there much.

People were getting bored, and we weren't even a week in yet. I had a feeling that these Games would be ending a lot sooner than mine had, and that it would be ugly one at that, they had let things become way too quite, even if we had sponsors pouring in there was nothing we could really send Strike and Noelle.

Strike was the epitome of a leader of the Careers, barking orders and playing a game of who was more masculine Dre in glaring matches, while Precious would scoff and strut around as if she expected better than this. Noelle as ever was completely stoic, a silent back up for Strike, and I was beginning to think that they were a lot closer than they let on, not in a romantic way at all, but acquaintances at least. After all they did have to spend the last year training together at the Academy, only the loyalty with these two seemed more one sided, Noelle didn't appear to hold any ill feelings towards Strike, and neither him to her, he did however watched her in a way that made me slightly uncomfortable.

It was Cato who first pointed out, for he had been the same in the final year of his training fighting for the top male spot. Jealously. Not an absurd amount, but it was there, and it was only until Cato pointed it out that I could tell he was right, the way she interacted with the other Careers, and the fluidity and perfection of the way she moved when she fought was second to none.

She was the favourite in everyway possible, and so completely passive and humble about it that you couldn't hate her for it, which was why Strike kept his mouth shut. Admiration too, not that the boy would ever admit it, but there was definitely some admiration there for her, and with each passing day the admiration and jealously the boy was so clearly feeling seemed to be getting mixed up inside his head.

The confinement of the caves was getting to him, he was becoming restless, itching for something, anything to do but sit there and wait for the remaining tributes to come to him. And I was not looking forward to when he snapped.

My thoughts were interrupted, though it was relatively easily to block out the loud chatter and laughter in the public café I was at. I sat out on the outside of the café where an abnormally large screen occupied it, bringing with it many viewers of the Capitol citizens to watch the Games as if it were some large ceremony. If anyone was getting more restless than Strike it was me, sitting in that room day and night was becoming unbearable, so while Cato took the afternoon shift of watching our tributes I had taken to getting some fresh air.

I looked up to the two men who had interrupted my inner monologue, one practically stumbling while the other grinned like he was god's gift. Finnick Odaire and Haymitch Abernathy; both absolute idiots in their own respective ways. I stared at them blankly as the looked back to me, simultaneously sitting down on the same table, metal chairs scraping against the concrete as Haymitch raised his hand to motion for a waiter.

"Please, take a seat."

Finnick grinned boyishly at my sarcastic tone, while Haymitch stared pointedly at me, a hand scraping back his greasy bangs. I wasn't sure if that man washed frequently or not.

"Hello beautiful."

I scoffed at Finnick's sleazy attitude, knowing that it was a show, a rather ridiculous one at that. He had been the opposite of this when we were back in the viewing quarters, cornering me until I heard him out.

"Why don't you stop behaving like an imbecile and tell me why you were so desperate to talk to me out here?"

"All in good time princess," Haymitch interjected, unbuttoning his top button of his extremely creased shirt, waist coat undone and leaning back lazily in his chair, "I'll have scotch thank you."

The waiter nodded towards him, and practically stumbled over her words when asking Finnick what he would like, the man took it in his stride, giving a dazzling smile and running a hand through his copper brown hair, shook his head softly and declined. She trotted away in her abnormally large heels, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes at her audacity to flirt so openly with customers, but then again it probably wasn't everyday she got to serve Finnick Odaire.

I took a sip of my juice as the three of us sat in silence, it appeared that neither men wanted to speak until Abernathy got his daily dose of alcohol, and instead they both turned their heads to watch the screen as the couple from Seven began running through the tunnels, away from the beetles and towards the boy from ten. The male from Seven holding an axe firmly in one hand, and the girl by the wrist with the other.

I shuffled in my seat, placing one leg over another, picking at the fabric of my blue jeans as I waited for the waitress to return, and when she did I wasn't surprised in how she grinned widely at Finnick, flicking her green hair over her shoulder and ignoring Haymitch as he thanked her. The boy loved the attention, I confirmed that as he tugged on his black v-neck shirt, exposing his toned chest only slightly, and I don't think the waitress's cheeks could have gone any redder than that.

I cleared my throat at her, glaring as she looked to me briefly, and she straightened immediately, apologising softly and scurrying away, green curls bouncing as she did.

"Feisty one you are."

I gave Haymitch a sarcastic smile as he took a swig of his beverage, folding my arms and turning to Finnick, looking to him expectantly as he straightened up, his face becoming more serious.

"Haymitch and I have an important proposition for you."

"And it's so important that you're asking me it in public?"

"We chose this place because Snow wouldn't think we're stupid enough to talk about such matters in public," Haymitch added, swirling the alcohol in his drink as if we weren't speaking of something that was supposedly a secret, "something big is coming princess and its not pretty."

An uneasy feeling settled once again in my stomach, and only worsened when I had seen Finnick and Haymitch's faces sober up considerably, this sounded dangerous. Too dangerous.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't act like you can't tell … things are different here, Snows becoming tighter with watching his victors, he's becoming paranoid. A rebellion is forming."

That word; rebellion. The only other time I had felt this sick was when I had heard Mico's name called from the stage, and never in my life did I ever think anything would make me feel just as scared as I did then. I was wrong. Rebellion. Just thinking it made goose bumps form on my skin. This was bad. This was dangerous, nothing good can come from this, the last time we rebelled against the Capitol The Hunger Games was formed as punishment.

"Who would be stupid enough to form a rebellion army?"

My voice had lowered considerably, even though the men were right and that a place such as this was probably the safest place to talk about this, I still didn't want people over hearing our conversation.

"Thirteen."

I couldn't help the audible intake of breath then, and for the silliest moment I thought that this may just be a big joke on me, but one look from someone as drunk as Haymitch and as promiscuous as Finnick proved me wrong easily.

"That's impossible, the Capitol destroyed their city."

"That is what they want you to think, it keeps the power of your fear in their hands, we have insiders, we're in contact with them. This is happening Faith, and you need to pick a side."

Finnick's voice no longer sounded like music, now he had an authority in him that I hadn't seen since his Games, a confidence that showed the real Finnick Odaire.

"What do you mean a side? What has this got to do with me?"

"Anyone can tell that you're no District Two snob sweetheart, and if anyone can convince them to side with Thirteen its you."

"I still don't understand."

"Have you not been paying attention to at all?" I shook my head, matching Haymitch's glare as he seemed to actually be getting annoyed with something for once, "you've changed things, you cant just be a District Two tribute and pull the amount of stunts you did without expecting anything to come out of it."

"So what are you saying? That the victors are becoming part of this rebellion and giving out info secretly?", I asked Finnick.

"Not every victor, just Three and upwards … I convinced them that you could be trusted, because anyone can see you despise the Capitol more than any of us do."

"What about Cato? Does he know anything about this?"

Finnick shook his head, a small soft smile forming on his lips as he spoke, "we were hoping, since you're the only thing he actually gives a damn about, that if we got you on board then he would side with us too."

"If you haven't figured out already Finnick, Cato hates me doing anything that's reckless, and this is beyond reckless … it's stupid. Do you really think we can win this time if we couldn't before?"

"Yes. Wait- listen to me! Twelve are already preparing, so are Ten, Seven and Four … this is going to happen Faith, and this time we're prepared."

I opened my mouth to object in his silly fantasy, but Haymitch cut me off pretty harshly, his voice cutting into the tension between us all like a knife, and his voice hard, I had never seen him so determined or serious before.

"I've seen how brave you can be Faith, the question is, are you brave enough to do what's right?"

There was something about his words, something that hit a sore spot, and it shut me right up. This wasn't just some small adventure you can decide without thinking about, this was big, life changing, it could change the course of the future so easily. It was what my father had died for, the rebellion was something he believed in whole heartedly, only I thought it was burnt down with him, never would I think that it could have been going on and planned for all this time.

Finnick was right. They were prepared, and they had District Thirteen with them, who knows how long they had been planning and building weapons for such a thing, they were the district for Nuclear weapons for goodness sake. It was a reckless decision that was for sure, and Cato would stop at nothing to make sure I didn't get caught in the middle of this; I could die should I decide to go through with this. But I had never been afraid of death, I had grown up with people dying all around me, my father was more than happy to give his life in exchange of Snow not getting his hands on my fathers work.

My father was brave enough to be involved in this, and I was my father's daughter.

I was never one for listening to Cato's orders in the first place.

"I'm in."

* * *

**Okay. Just to say I didn't get lazy with updating NOR am I abandoning this story … I've been on holiday, and I was gonna update before I left but then I realised my passport was out of date and I had to get it renewed and all that shizz, so then I had to wait until I was back to update. So sorry for that, and as you've guessed I'm not going to be doing this games in detail, its skimming over it, mostly to show Faith's agreement in the rebellion and her connection to Noelle. But yeah, shit just got real. Soooo guys I have a HG twitter fan account, and if any of you are on there follow me :3 you can talk about my story if you want but I basically just talk a lot of shit about the book and casting! ItsGlimmerBitch I know I know but I love my name!**

**ILoafPeeta: Thank you! And yep he's about to get a whole lot creepier! Stay tuned! **

**HermoineAndMarcus: Thank you and I shall!**

**JennaRae44: Thank you! Honestly it means a whole lot to see you said that, and yeah the filler chapters just deflate me so much, they're real drag to write sometimes! But I'm finally pulling out of it and onto the big stuff! Thank you for reviewing! :D**

**C0nt0rt3dM1nd: Thank you so much, you've been so faithful to my story from the beginning! The Games aren't going to be in complete detail, what they're really important for is the beginning of the rebellion and development of other chracters before they have bigger roles.**

**PeppermintAmortentia: Hey babe! Thank you and I'm glad you liked it! Stay lovely chic! **

**Hazu23: Thank you, yeah I wanted to show just how much it affects him with things are still raw, he's always just been like 'yes its shitty but get the fuck on with it' so yeah I done a different approach for that chapter.**

**PeicesInTheirGames: babbbbbbyyyyyy! Yes yes we are, dw we'll share XD! Haha I knew you'd like that part! We all love a bit of Finnick :3 And yeahhhh guess she loves him, she's just too afraid to admit tbh. I can't help it! They just all feel so blergh! But no worries now things can REALLY move one! **

**Bbymojo: It's just filler chapters really make me feel demotivated that's why, but no worries I'm beginning to love writing it again now! Haha yes Noelle finally spoke, and yes FINNICK 3 And hahaha yes, she's not very open about matters like that, shes a private person! Yeah I think he definitely needed to hear that from her, some reassurance that he isn't screwing up their relationship … even if it already is screwed up … but yes thanks for the encouragement! :D**

**Neverstopdaydreaming: love your picture! And ahhh don't worry so was i! and I was writing it! Such an awful scene, probably the nastiest thing I've done but it was vital for the story. Thank you new reader! **

**AlexShah: Hahaha don't worry its all good! People make mistakes, and you're not obligated to review, so I'm glad you do at all! :D I love writing Noelle, she is literally so much fun because shes an enigma! Strike's just a nasty piece of work, and is going to give you all a shocker! ;) Ahhh when/if Cato ever does find out its not going to be a nice conversation! Thank you for reviewing my darling and hope you liked this chapter!**

**LuliCullen: Thank you! Hope you liked this one!**

**KnucklePuck: When, may I ask, are YOU updating my lady? Hmmm? Because I'm going crazy waiting for the new chapter! And Thank you, that means so much and it was definitely what I was hoping for, so the fact you pointed it out makes me a very happy girl! And as you wished MORE FINNICK! :D **

**Kiralol101: Wow. That is one hell of a review! Thank you, I actually got the inspiration for their outfits from Coldplay's music video 'Princess of China', and yeah she hasn't been taking it too good since shes gotten back. And urgh, yeah I know, he just feels like hes dirty and unfaithful on a whole other level, so I done this chapter to make sure he was reassured from her. And yes don't worry I have a victor who'll she'll become close with soon! Yes I know! I have a twitter HG fan account so EVERYTHING is exposed there as soon as its revealed, and I'm literally so pleased with the casting! Garret Hedlund was my first choice for Finnick but IDC I'm happy Sam Claflin was picked because I know he'll be a wonderful Finnick, and he's beautiful as well sooo … I fucking hate Jena Malone, shes a good actress and I know she'll be good as Johanna but I just hate her XD Phillip Seymour Hoffman has got to be my FAVOURITE casting, I absolutely LOVE him as an actor, absolutely fantastic! And Bruno Gunn! Meta Goulding is probably the hottest woman I've ever seen so cant wait to see her as Enobaria! **

**JustAPersonWithAPony: Don't worry it's completely fine! And thank you for your wonderful words of encouragement, its ones like that that get me through the bland filler season! **

**xxxRena: Thank you so much! Lovely of you to say and glad you think that, hope you enjoy this one and thanks for reviewing! **

**Me: I haveeeeee! XD and thank you!**

**xXRosexScorpiusXx: I grinned so widely when I saw your review! Thank you so much for it! Thank you for that, I really did plan this story from beginning to end and it took me so long to do so, so I'm glad you've said such lovely things about it! And yes just a lot of shitty luck for them, so I'm glad they have each other! And you'll just have to wait on who survives these games, and yes the district seven boy was hard to sympathise with, but that snap was so brutal to write! Thank you and I hope you enjoy the chapters to come! **

**Isabella: Thank you! Haha I haven't had time to watch Brave yet but I want to! So when I finally get the time I'll keep your comment In mind! And sorry those are just my bad typos that I shamefully haven't bothered to go back and correct yet! **

**Random-writer-grl: Thank you! Reading that makes me feel so proud that I evoked those sort of emotions from you! Because that's all I try to do, so again thank you and hope I continue to pull out those same emotions from you! **

**Nightflyer11: Thank you! **

**CeliaSingsSongs: Thank you! And I will! **


	29. Burned

"_Once Upon A Time We Fell Apart, You Holding In Your Hands The Two Halves Of My Heart. Once Upon A Time We Burned Bright, Now All We Ever Seemed To Do Is Fight, And On And On. I Could Have Been A Princess, You'd Be A King, Could Have Had A Castle, Worn A Ring, But No You Let Me Go, Cause You Really Hurt Me." – Coldplay Ft Rihanna; Princess Of China._

* * *

"You're serious?! You're not coming?!"

Cato's incredulous face made it seem as though I had committed a crime, he had been far too sensitive lately, ever since we had gotten back from The Capitol his mood had shifted. The knowledge that I had put myself into a planning rebellion hadn't helped lighten his mood, but I wasn't about to change my mind just to make him feel easier about himself.

"I have to go to the Capitol, what do you want me to do?!"

"Tell them to reschedule until after the victory tour!"

His voice raised a few octaves, and I could already feel a huge argument coming on, more of those had been happening recently, neither of us were in good moods anymore, and grating on each others nerves wasn't helping. What had happened in the recent Games had so clearly affected Cato more than he would ever admit to himself, and this whole killing well known people without trying to feel guilty was simply failing.

Their faces were printed on newspapers and magazines everywhere I went, and not being able to talk about it to Cato wasn't helping. I knew I should tell him, it was wrong of me not to, but every time I tried my heart rate seemed to speed up and my throat conveniently constricted, my voice leaving me. I was scared and I didn't even know why.

I groaned at his stupid suggestion, his blue eyes defiant and hard, "Cato I cant just call them up and tell them because of my busy life I cant make their plan of my life for the next decade!"

"Oh it's only a fucking interview, its not like _you _have to suffer a weekend in someone else's bed."

I visibly flinched at his words, something so harsh and cruel, not only to me but to himself, had never come out of his mouth before. He didn't even look guilty; instead his glare only seemed to become fiercer, his jaw tensing considerably. I couldn't understand why is he was angry, at such an early hour of the day; he was still in his boxers and shirt for goodness sake. Whatever dreams that had plagued him the night before had never had this sort of affect before; I didn't even know what to say in my dishevelled state, I was still trying to wake up properly.

"What is wrong with you?"

"You wanna know what's wrong? That when it was your fucking victory tour I dropped everything to watch you the whole way through it, but you won't even give up a fucking weekend to help the girl when she's clearly struggling!"

He was full on screaming now, knocking over a couple of bowls on the kitchen counter, clanging and shattering on the marble floor beneath my bare feet, and I inched a few steps backwards. He was scaring me, and I had never had to deal with him like this, only I didn't help myself, I masked my fear and angered toppled out, fists clenching to step me from striking him.

"Stop making out that I'm some cold selfish bitch, this isn't easy for me either … or for any of us, I want to be anywhere but the Capitol."

"Oh here we go, the sob story begins!"

"What is this really about Cato?! Because you have been more than unreasonable with your moods lately!"

"Maybe if you took time out of your bubble of self pity about Mico you would know."

That was a real punch in the stomach, and it left my truly gob smacked, his tone dripped with acid, and even though his expression retracted from the hate and anger it once held to evaluate what came out of his mouth, I knew there was no way I could forgive him for stooping that low.

My lower lip trembled, and I tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear with a shaky hands, wisps of hair falling out from the messy bun I had put it in the night before. Suddenly I felt the opposite of hungry for breakfast, instead I felt as though I could regurgitate my stomachs entire contents for the past week. I had never in my life thought that anything that remotely cruel would ever be said to me, least of all from Cato. A man I had pulled down so many safety walls for, who I was trying with my absolute heart and soul to give everything.

"I'm- I'm gonna go get ready," I choked out, my eyes watering rapidly as I made my way around the kitchen table, and out of the kitchen, all the while Cato remained perfectly still and silent.

There had once been a time where I would have not only counted his remark with one just as cruel, but probably managed a nice punch while I was at it. That Faith had only disappeared within the last year and a half, yet it felt as though it had been years, I barely recognised myself anymore, I didn't know this overly sensitive girl who relied on another man to keep her together. It was everything I once stood up against, I believed in depending on myself, yet the thought of it now scared me beyond belief, solitude was once a calming thought for me, only now it brought complete and utter fear. I hated myself for it.

I hated that I could be so easily hurt now, I hated that I literally given so much of myself to Cato that he knew exactly how to hurt me. I was merely months ago that everything was going fine, perfect even, despite the fact that he had to be in another woman's bed, we were okay. I hoped that this was temporary, I knew everything was never going to be perfect, and I knew that the reason he was so off was because of what had happened with Noelle.

I could still remember that day, the day she had won; only I didn't expect it to happen so quickly, I had never been so horrified to watch something in my Nineteen years of living.

_I rolled my eyes at the two beautiful men standing in the viewing room, one calm and collected, his hands buried in his pockets as he simply watched the other yelled at him. Finnick had never appeared more passive before, and I liked to think that he was trying his hardest to fight off a smile, because I was doing the same. Instead I took to rolling my eyes and tutting every few seconds, this argument was beyond stupid, not to mention completely unsafe. _

_To say Cato had been displeased with my revelation of joining the rebellion was definitely an understatement, in fact he exploded, the idea of it all clearly terrified him, and sounding like a scolding father he actually tried to tell me I would have no part in it. You'd think he would have learned by now I didn't listen to him once my mind was set on something, and even though he refused to admit it he knew that this rebellion could mean so much for the Districts. We could be free to live our lives normally, not having to look over our shoulder in constant fear, threats on our families made and blackmailed into doing Snow's dirty work._

_It was a world that sounded so perfect and blissful that I began wanting it too much, over thinking on it, and Cato knew I was. Which was what scared him, thinking he would lose me in some way, his paranoia and fear going into over drive, scenarios of my death coming up in his mind. I honestly knew him too well; his emotions were so easily readable. _

"_I don't care what kind of crap you're into Odaire, she's not being brought into this!"_

"_You should really keep your voice down, don't want **people **hearing do you?" Finnick's voice was soft, and a charming smile eased its way onto his lips as if this entire conversation was a joke, "besides if I'd forced her into anything, you would know about it!"_

_Cato's nostrils flared, his face becoming redder at Finnick's insinuation, and I had to cover my face with the palm of my hand and stifle my groan, he was rising to Finnick's bait so easily. You'd think someone who had been friends with him longer than I had known him would tell that, instead he let his pride and anger cloud the fact that Finnick was drawing his attention away from the pressing matter. _

"_Real smooth! I don't care whether she was jumping on the bandwagon or not, over my dead body is my girlfriend going to get into some crazy shit!"_

"_Excuse me, may I remind you that you **do not** own-"_

"_Stay out of this Faith!"_

_I blanched, putting my hands up in mock surrender and matching his glare, taking a step back as he groaned, running a hand through his face and hair as he turned to me. _

"_Look I'm not tryna' tell you what to do, I'm-"_

"_Oh really?" I drawled, my tone dripping with sarcasm as I turned away from him, ignoring Finnick's chuckles as I pretended to concentrate on the screen, "'cause from what you were just saying, that's exactly what you were trying to do."_

"_I'm sorry okay? I'm just doing what I think's best for you."_

"_Ha, you sound more like her father than a boyfriend, and from where I'm standing she don't want either."_

_I heard Finnick's chuckles become louder, and his footsteps echoed as he begun leaving the room, Cato clearly trailer behind him and yelling a bunch of profanities. I could already see the other mentors popping their own heads out of their rooms, watching the commotion, Johanna scowling as she always did, Haymitch looking nonchalant with a glass of whisky in his hand. _

_I could faintly hear Haine's voice interject, neutral and on neither side, he always seemed like the one to be the voice of reason. Being older than both of them obviously helped, and even though Finnick was twenty four years of age he was still ridiculously childish, although a part of me couldn't blame him for it, killing at the age of fourteen must have completely ripped away his ability to have fun._

_I rubbed my eyes tiredly, glad that I hadn't needed to go out for any celebrity appearances in the last few days, meaning I could give my face a chance to breathe from the layers of make-up they suffocated it with. I looked up towards the second smaller screen, the one concentrating on our own tributes, while the larger one was what the game makers broadcasted in the show to Panem._

_My brows furrowed in confusion, and then widened at the site in front of me, both the tributes from one lay on the floor, Precious with her jaw ripped off and bleeding excessively, while Dre lay a couple of feet from her, hunched over his body, blood pooling and mixing into the dirt while he covered his abdomen. _

_Strike stood on his own, his hair dishevelled, face streaked with blood and eyes wild. He didn't look right, something had clicked in his head, something between a wide grin and a grimace on his face, whether he couldn't decide if he was excited or horrified with what he had done, and something had me thinking that the barrier between the two had disappeared for him. _

_Noelle stood on the other side, as if she had just gotten back from somewhere, her face still passive as ever, yet her eyes were slightly wide, a large dagger geld tightly in her hands, dripping with blood, and as two cannons went off I realised she had killed both the tributes from Seven on her own._

"_What have you done?"_

_Strike ignored her statement, giving her one fleeting look before kicking Dre in his side, sending him rolling onto his back, teeth gritted together in pain as if to stop a yell escaping his lips. His wounds caused bile to run up my throat, and I covered mouth with my hand, gagging and gasping. Strike had torn his stomach open, intestines and blood spilling out all over him and the floor._

"_Snake!" He spat out, blood seeping out of the corner of his mouth, staining his perfectly white teeth._

_Strike barked out and extremely sick chuckle, spitting on him before kicking his head …continuously. _

"_.. Cato?"_

_I whispered out, afraid that if I spoke any louder I'd begin crying, I hadn't seen something this sadistic before._

"_Cato."_

_He still didn't hear me, and I covered my ears to block out the sounds of Dre's skull crunching beneath Strike's boot, dying slowly and painfully, his nose crushing into sawdust. I closed my eyes, hoping that it would erase what I had just seen; I didn't think anyone was capable of enjoying a kill that much._

_That was when I corrected myself. I had. I had broken Patroclus's wrists, cut out his tongue, gorged out Sunny's eyes and left them both to be eaten by mutations. I had done some equally as sadistic and hadn't regretted it, instead I enjoyed it, and nothing could have possibly been worse than to be reminded of what I had done while watching a boy do the exact same thing._

"_CATO!"_

_I screamed out, the boys arguing match halting abruptly, and I waited as I heard Cato's footsteps come back into the room, stopping at the door, and most likely drinking in the site that was in front of him. I sob escaped my lips, nightmares that I wished I could forget entering my mind, things I had done in and outside of the Games, people I had killed, families I had destroyed. _

_I felt his footsteps quicken in pace, his arms encasing me and turning my head away from the screen, his hands pushing my head into his shoulder, and I could feel all of the muscles there tense. Yells of frustration came from the television as Strikes beating continued, long after the canon for Dre had gone off, and I bit my lip to silence my sobs._

"_Don't watch anymore."_

_His voice was hard and collected, like he knew how to deal with this stuff, and it made me wonder what he thought when I was going on a killing rampage, whether he felt as sick as I did now. The thought only made me feel worse, and balled his shirt into my fists as tears slid down my cheeks, dampening his shirt._

"_I think you've done enough."_

_Any other time, being in the right frame of mind, I would have been proud to see that she was still so calm about the situation, rational plans going through her head, she must have known it was no longer safe to be around Strike. The boy had completely lost himself, the claustrophobia of being contained in such a dark and narrow space must have been what set him off, sitting around doing nothing for days when he had worked all his life to fight to the death, and the constant head butting of top dog between him and Dre. _

_I turned slightly, peeking out to look at the screen and it wad focused on Strike, he had that look on him again, and the same one he always had when watching Noelle. It was intense as ever, and a chilling feeling sparked from the pit of my stomach, accelerating and spreading into to the tip of my spin in record time, hairs on the back of my neck standing up. _

"_What is it with you?" He spat out, his teeth gritted and eyes burning with a lust that was more than just for thirst of blood, "you're up and then you're fucking down … backing me up one minute and then judging me with that face the next."_

_He stalked towards her, and she stood her ground with him, defiant like she always had been, not even flinching as he loomed over her small frame, sighing softly before she attempted to walk past him. Only he grabbed onto her elbow, yanking her backwards and forcing her into the stone wall a couple of metres behind. Her back collided with it harshly, and the only indication she let on of it paining her was when she closed her eyes tightly for the briefest moment, opening them to glare at Strike. He took hold of her chin with the other hand, his anger rising at the fact she hadn't even yelped in pain, breathing heavily over her._

_No. He wouldn't. He **couldn't**. He couldn't be so far gone to even consider something so … diabolical. The look in his eyes said it all; every fibre in him had completely fallen into a pit of darkness, no more was the over confident and rude Strike, now it was just a shell of a man full of impulses that would have been buried away if a conscious still existed._

"_Let go of me."_

_It was the first time Noelle's voice had ever wavered, and the panic in her eyes was beginning to show, she was trained to analyse people's body language, she must have had an idea of what was going through her head. Death clearly never scared her, but this was something, she had no control in this, and fear was created from things that were beyond your control. _

_The large screen had switched cameras minutes ago, clearly the game makers themselves knew what would unravel between the last two remaining tributes, and instead had once again set the flesh eating beetles on the last remaining tributes. _

"_Does this always happen?" I whispered, my voice raw with emotion, I couldn't sit through this._

_Cato's arm tightened around me, and he tried pulling my head away once again from the screen, and for some stupid reason I fought against it, pressing my hands into his chest so that I could turn and properly face the screen._

"_Every other year or so … they censor it out of the television broadcast."_

_He sounded regretful … guilty. _

"_I can't do this Cato."_

"_I know."_

_Strike punched Noelle, hard, and her lip busted quite harshly, blood dripping from it slowly. She hit back, punching him square in the eye, and he let out a loud groan, only the punch wasn't hard enough to make him let go. Instead he grabbed onto her shirt collar, pulling her away from the wall and slamming her into it once more, eyes burning with emotions that he probably didn't even recognise._

"_Please don't."_

_Strike let out an amused scoff, not even the least surprised that she had actually begged him, well beginning in the way she would. He looked prideful, more than pleased with himself for finally terrifying her, a sickening grin on his face as he began tearing at her clothes, delivering another blow to her cheek every time she fought back and screamed at him._

_One of Cato's arms released from me, only I barely noticed because of the horror that wad unravelling before my eyes, and he turn the screen off. I should have yelled at him, I should have told him to do something to stop it, only there was nothing he could do, nothing either of us could do to stop the act of cruelty going on in that arena, except turn the television off. _

I chocked back several sobs, failing miserably as I continued to pack my small bag for the weekend, now dressed in simple dark blue jeans and black v-neck shirt, which was a size too big for me, I rubbed at my face and tried to ignore the dull ache in my chest. I would never say something so cruel to him, no matter how seething angry I got at him, because hurting him was like hurting myself, I considered him a part of me now.

Only it felt as if that were one sided, especially since he hadn't even bothered to come into our room and say something to me. I knew things would be tense with us after those Games, and I knew that he had been helping Noelle out a lot more than I had, but he seemed to know all the right things to say to her, simply because he knew how it felt to be _violated_. I didn't even know what to say to her, how can you congratulate a girl who had to kill a boy in his sleep because he had brutally raped her, and even though that part wasn't broadcasted on national television, it was still going to be humiliating.

But it didn't mean I didn't care, I spent a week doing nothing but trying to break through to her, only to have a small accomplishment when she asked me for advice. I felt beyond awful, if I had told her to just do it on her own she wouldn't have had her dignity stripped from her in that way, everything would have been much less painful.

I winced once more as I thought of the blowing words Cato had yelled at me, and a strangled sob once again left me. Mico. He brought Mico into it, for reasons completely unknown, something was wrong with him, very wrong and it was even worse with us. It was all becoming too much to bear, the man I had come to whole heartedly depend on for emotional support was the very man I wanted to be a thousand miles away from.

I thrust the bag over my shoulder, slipping my shoes on and opening my door, tears still streaming down my face uncontrollably and I halted in my steps in the hallway. Green eyes locking onto blue, his face still passive yet his shoulders were no longer tensed. I hesitated quickly looking to the staircase, before back at Cato, watching him watching me, wondering if he was going to actually make a move or continue staring. I took a shaky breath, before continuing to walk, only to be stopped as Cato blocked my path, his hand raised to attentively touch my shoulder, and I recoiled away from me.

Skirting around him as he begun to bustle out with a string of words attached to an apology, and I begun to panic, suddenly being touched by him wasn't something I craved, not right now at least, the man who stood before me didn't feel like Cato.

"P-please just don't, not right now at least," he looked genuinely hurt by the fact I was so afraid to be near him now, only it was over shadowed by the guilt he so was so clearly beginning to feel, devastation was clear as day on my face, "this isn't you Cato, please just leave me alone for a few days."

I turned my back on him, ignoring him as I rushed down the steps of our house, his calls for my name faded into the back of my head as I shut the door behind me, continuously wiping my cheeks to rid myself of the fountain of tears.

I had never been completely drunk before, in fact the only time I was ever remotely intoxicated was when Ivy had convinced me into sharing several bottles of wine with her. It seemed to work for so many people when they were though, a temporary yet effective way of forgetting all your troubles, putting them in a hazy portrait in which you could no longer make then out. It sounded perfect.

I had the perfect opportunity to, sitting at a bar on my own at a huge party, drinks free all night and fresh out of the shower from an afternoon of killing someone. Yep, I had every reason to get drunk right now, but I didn't, because something like that required a lot of balls, and after the week I just had I didn't have any, so instead I sat at the bar, in my strapless black silk dress, hair done up and make-up perfect by Karina, drinking my one glass of red wine, watching others lose themselves.

I remembered the plan pleading this time, insisting on the fact I couldn't do this to his daughter, and because of that I hesitated. _Hesitated_. The large bruise on my ribcage now could prove just how stupid hesitating could be, only now I felt twice as worse for what I did because shooting him in the head after his kick in my ribs made me feel a little satisfied. I couldn't feel that way, I could never allow myself to be brought down and consumed by this, because that was Snow's plan. He was breaking me from the inside out, waiting for when I cracked and completely destroyed myself, and it was working.

I didn't know how much more of this I could take; I didn't know how long it would be until I couldn't take anymore.

"Well don't you look all dolled up Princess?"

Haymitch. It should be no surprise that he was here; after all I'm sure the man could smell an open bar from a mile off. With his suit creased and hair as messy as always, he leaned beside me against the counter, elbow resting on top as he passed his empty glass to the bartender, asking for another.

I didn't reply to him, only taking another sip of my drink and swallow the lump in my throat, I had longed for the entire afternoon to just curl up in bed and cry, just cry for hours without a second of interrupting. The old me could have punched my face, sneering at me and urging to man-up, because I had become so pathetically weak, this was not the person who was raised by father, this was the person who had allowed every blow from Snow to bring me down.

"Ah, rather melancholic aren't we?"

"Well my personal life is hanging by a thread, and Snow's got me wrapped around his wrinkled finger. Rather melancholic indeed."

Haymitch chuckled, his eyes softening as he took in my slumped posture and defeated look, smacking a hand on my shoulder he smirked, briefly turning to the bar tender to take his drip, sipping on it once before he spoke again.

"The luxury of being a victor my dear … let me know when that personal life completely crumbles, that's when Snow's won."

I understood the meaning of his words, telling me to hold on in his own way, and I nodded to him, our glasses chinking together before he straightened, and walked past me, only turning back once and calling my name, glass raised in the air as if for a toast.

"We should get together, have lunch and discuss things."

I agreed, once again understanding the meaning of his words and turning away, a smile on my face at his drunken behaviour as he stumbled around a few party goes. He wanted some sort of meeting, most likely in the same café as before, and I was hoping it was some form of instructions to help this thing begin moving, it felt as though everything was a ticking time bomb, and I wanted to nip that in the bud before it was even close to happening.

Haymitch was probably the most surprising person to ever befriend me, because he had weaselled his way in without me even noticing, but strangely enough I didn't mind, in fact I welcomed the idea of a friend who didn't cause unnecessary arguments or brought on painful memories, he gave me a motive and amused me with his annoying antics, not that I would ever admit it.

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**So I wanted to get this out before I go on holiday AGAIN, this Friday but its only until Monday, and I didn't want to keep you all waiting again because I have been so sucking with updating recently. I thank you all for alerting/favs/reviewing … its lovely and I hope it continues! On that note I would like to ask one of my reviewers (Silentxangel) on where on earth they have disappeared to?! Your reviews were highly valued because I wrote a lot of my chapters with the help of your criticism and advice! **

**PiecesInTheirGames: Hai bby. You know you were happy when I updated tho ;) and thank youuuuuu even though I don't agree and I think the fillers were crappish but thank you for your amazing support 3 Haha yeah I know, its just I didn't have enough to write to go in such detail about these games so I was showing snippets of what I imagined! LOL jus wait until you see how much of our RP I use in the later chaps! I was crying when I did that, it was totally unintentional XD Anyway thanks for the review bby 3**

**ILoafPeeta3: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed them! And yep yep rebellion is sooooooooon :D cannot wait for it! Thank you I appreciate it and hope you liked this chapter! Xx**

**HermoineAndMarcus: Thannk you and I shall x**

**LuliCullen: thank you I hope you like this one too!**

**xxxRena: Thank you I did it was lovely, and yes totally cute! Thanks for reviewing! **

**Hazu23: Thanks! And haha he hasn't been coping with it very well at the moment!**

**xXRosexScorpiusXx: Well and truly flipped didn't he! And urgh I'mm glad I did because I wouldn't have been able to write it all out again in such detail, and yes Strike has become unbelievably creepy with the way he behaves! Hes gone craayyyy! Awww thank you that means so much! And I hope you enjoyed this chapter! **

**Kiralol101: YES YES! THE REBELLION FINALLY ARRIVED! Yes I adore Cato, always trying his best in things! Thank you! I use a lot of inspiration from multiple films so the idea of the mountain and beetles came from two different films Your hunch was correct, Strike is a very messed up boy and well … it was inevitable. Yeah I thought that would be the most subtle place since Snow wouldn't have been watching there, and definitely will take convincing for Cato. Yeah I do like Garret Hedlund too, four brothers and tron legacy are my favourite films from him, he was awesome in those. And don't worry good luck with college! **


	30. Dysfunctional

"_You And I Go Hard At Each Other Like We're Going To War, You And I Get So Damn Dysfunctional We Stopped Keeping Score, You And I Get Sick Yeah I Know That We Can't Do This No More. So I Cross My Heart And Hope To Die, That I'll Only Stay With You One More Night." – Maroon 5; One More Night._

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Silence. That was the most familiar thing to me in the past few months, it was either that or shouting, shouting that came from either me or Cato. Silence however was what I loathed the most, because it meant we weren't talking to each other any more, and whenever I attempted conversation it was always forced an awkward. Things were bad, really bad between us, and I didn't even know why, it had just taken a bad turn. I constantly tried to reason with my mind that this happened, that every couple went through this.

It was just a rough patch, couples who had been together for at least a year were sure to go through this. I kept trying to tell myself that we would pull through, this couldn't last long, we had both been through so much together that I was praying something as silly as not talking couldn't tear us apart.

Cato was another story. The guy was like a walking ghost now, he didn't seem to care at all, and whenever we fought was the only time I felt assured that he still cared about our relationship. For once I couldn't understand what he was thinking, and always seemed as if he needed an excuse to leave the house, it hurt of course. He wasn't obligated to live here with me, he didn't even have all his stuff here, he just did, and I was half tempted to scream at him to just leave when he so clearly wanted to.

Only I didn't, because I knew I was nothing without him, and I knew that it wasn't just his fault for our relationship being so bad now. The fact I was still hiding such an important secret from him proved that I wasn't exactly doing my best either, I wasn't oblivious and I knew that by keeping this secret I was slowly pushing myself away from him.

Maybe that was it, maybe he knew I was hiding something and refused to let him know, maybe he was sick and tired with trying to get me to fess up by smothering me that he had given up altogether. I just didn't know anymore, I was slowly becoming the cause of my own destruction, and I still refused to do anything about it.

"Alec's sister had a kid the other day," Cato's voice mumbled out, his back to me as he stood at the kitchen counter, busying himself by making a sandwich.

"He has a sister?" my voice was raspy, and I cleared my throat a little, taking a sip of my coffee, tiredness still gripping me in the early morning.

"Yeah, he told me it's her second boy."

I didn't know why he was telling me, but it was mostly likely the same reason I told him irrelevant things; so that we had something to talk about.

"She's a lucky woman, being able to do that."

"Do what?" His head turned to look over his shoulder briefly, before turning back to his task.

"Have children, you know a family without having to worry about the stuff we do."

Cato stopped what he was doing completely, turning around with an offended look on his face, and I could already see traces of anger appearing through his face. I would like to say that I stayed silently; waiting for him to say whatever so clearly bothered him. Only I didn't, instead I threw my hands up in the air, sick and tired of somehow always pissing him off without even realising what I had done; I was tired of being his punching bag.

"Oh, what? _What_ have I done now?!"

"You saying you don't want kids?! You don't want kids with me?!"

I blanched, to be frank I was surprised that such a thing would come out of his mouth, Cato barely spoke about what our relationship status eve was, let alone whether he wanted to have a family. There may have been a time where my stomach warmed to the thought, where I would have smiled and pulled him into a kiss and say that I was delighted he would say such a thing. Only that time had long passed, our relationship was so broken to the point where I sometimes wondered if we could barely last another week, let alone think of a family.

"It's not that Cato, It's just unrealistic of us to think we can have children without worrying about their safety all the time," my voice was calm, refusing to make this another argument, quite frankly I was beyond tired of it, "the last time I tried being some sort of mother Mico ended up dead."

His face reddened with anger, looking as if he would explode any minute, and I buried my head into my hands to await the onslaught of verbal abuse he would give, it was like a routine now.

"That's just selfish! It's always about what you're scared of what you're worried about! Did you ever think that maybe I would want to have a family with you? That I would be here to make sure nothing ever happened to you or our kids because you'd both mean too much to me?!"

"You honestly think we can have a family when our relationship is as damaged as it is?" I choked out, tears stinging my eyes.

Cato remained silent, the only audible sound was our soft breathing, he didn't seem to be angry anymore as I watched him, and ran a hand down his face roughly. He looked just as tired as I was, both with our jobs tiring us out, emotionally and physically, and we both knew this relationship was becoming a job in itself.

"I guess it's good the Reapings are tomorrow, we need some time apart."

I nodded in agreement, letting him walk over to me and plant a kiss on the top of my head, watching go back to what he was doing. It had only hit me then, after he was done and had walked out silently, that we had just argued over the fact he wanted kids, and that I didn't. Well I did, but I knew it was wishful thinking, not many mentors had children, and the ones who did weren't necessarily hated my Snow so much. It didn't matter if Catalina Break had promised my children immunity from the reapings, I trusted her word just as much as I did Snow's, which was practically nothing, I had no control over what had happened to Mico, and there was no way I could go through that again.

He was practically already family, but losing someone who was my own flesh and blood would be just as worse, it would destroy me. Maybe I was selfish for thinking that, but I didn't care to be frank, it was better for everyone if I didn't end up pregnant.

Ivy may not have been my mother, but she sure as hell was good and pretending to me, she offered my nothing but comfort, with her wrapped around my shoulder softly as we watched the reapings together. It was like no matter what I did, whether I was in wrong or not, she would still hug me and tell me everything was going to be alright. Sometimes I wasn't sure if Cato new just exactly how lucky he was to still have a family like this, one so warm and loving.

"I'm just scared; I don't think we're strong enough to get past this anymore."

Ivy laughed softly, her fingers running through my red hair absentmindedly, the reapings becoming tuned out due to our conversations and the sounds of Ellie speaking to herself as she played with her dolls on the floor beside us.

"You think I didn't think same thing with Ellie's father? Not everything's going to be perfect all the time, sometimes its going to be a lot of hard work."

She silenced me with that, because I knew she was right, I just didn't think we had any effort left in us. Then again if Cato wasn't willing to try then he wouldn't still be around, he would have packed his bags and left my ass a long time ago, I was making things difficult and I knew it, only because I hadn't fully forgiven him for all the things he had said to me. Usually I could brush it off, thinking he was just angry at something, but for the first time it felt like he meant it, and I was finding it so hard to read him nowadays, something I would have found easier a while back.

"Tell me something Faith, are your feelings still there?"

She backed up a little on the sofa to look at me, and the reply I gave her was practically automatic, I didn't even need to think about it.

"They never left."

She grinned at me widely, satisfied with my answer, and in turn I did too. An answer so clear and simple, something that I should have thought of a long time ago, because I wasn't ready to give up on Cato and I, not by a long shot. We were in a rut, and I was finally sure as hell that we could get through it, and I knew then that it would be best that I should finally tell him what Snow had forced me into. If I wanted this to work, and truly I did, I had to give all of myself to him, no matter how much that thought terrified me. I had only done that once, and when I did Mico was torn from me. There were scars there from both of us, but if Cato wasn't afraid to give everything then I shouldn't have been either.

"I don't know what it is Faith," Ivy breathed out, a hand running through her black locks, "but you two just fit. You're meant to be."

My heart swelled at her words, for his mother to think so positively and sure of us only strengthened my belief, and suddenly I couldn't wait for when my trip to the Capitol next week would arrive.

Our light chatter was soon interrupted by the television, we had practically sped through all of the reapings, up until the last District; Twelve. No one ever really paid attention to them, they were outer and unfortunate when it came to trained tributes, and people unintentionally turned a blind eye to them. This however, that was going to change, I didn't know at that moment just how much and how quickly it would happen, but that day marked a new age.

"I volunteer as tribute!"

It seemed as if not only was the entire District on the screen silent and taken aback, but the studio in which it broadcasted too. My eyes were glued to the dark haired girl on the screen, her eyes fierce and full of passion, passion for the little blonde girl who stood always from her; a younger sibling. Ivy and I watched silently as she briskly walked to the younger girl, ordering her to return to their mother, her voice strong and steady, and I instantly knew that her head was in gear. She begun playing now, she couldn't show weakness, not when she looked most strongest, most compassionate as she gave up her life for the person she clearly loved the most.

The once joyous feeling I had in my stomach only moments ago crushed into mere pieces, she reminded me so largely and clearly of what I had fought for, why I had volunteered. It almost felt as if I could feel her unconditional love and devotion to her sister through the screen, and my stomach dropped, my heart tearing from the inside out as I thought that she had succeeded in where I had failed; she had ensured the safety of her little sister.

She stood strong on the stage, determination etched onto her face as she gave her name to her District representative.

"She's gonna win," Ivy muttered under her breath, and I was sure the word where intended for herself.

She was right, and I knew with every fibre in my being. She was going to win. More than that, I felt a switch go off in my head; an idea spark which I knew would spread and become a joint idea with every District mentor I was familiar with after today.

There was the face of the rebellion, their strength, their inspiration, their devotion to die for that very belief.

Katniss Everdeen.

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**It's a short chapter I know, very short actually, but I did honestly have another scene planned to put in here, a monumental one actually … but I don't know it just felt like it FIT to end it with the introduction of Katniss. Something I know a lot of you have been waiting for, and I'm sorry for the delay, to be honest I don't feel as enthusiastic as I once did about writing this, it's becoming difficult but I WANT to because I know what's gonna have from start to finish … so I won't give up I promise.**

**You might have noticed I started another story, it's only a side project for those familiar with The Dark Knight trilogy it's a Bane/OC fic …. it's gonna be really short and the chapters themselves are short … so it doesn't take long … but honest I will finish this story … it's just a matter of whether you will all put up with me or not so PLEASE do!**

**Nelle07: I don't know it just seemed a little unrealistic to me in the books for that to NEVER happen in the games, and I think a lot of people are sick enough and allow their minds to consume them to do something like that … I just think maybe the capitol sensor it out. Thank you, it's coming soon!**

**Designation Lullaby: haha thank you for your enthusiasm! And yeah a real nasty piece of work! Thanks for reviewing!**

**ILoafPeet3: Thank you! Things from now are gonna pretty much be really intense now that the rebellion is well on it's way! **

**PiecesInTheirGames: Hey baby! Thank you for sticking through me with this rough patch! And not so much a book, a load of ideas in my head in ways to torture fictional characters XDThe torture isn't over yet! Haha yes you're right, I did get from that … I do that a lot with films actually! And yes I'm gonna be using a lot of the RP stuff for their arguments! Loooove you!**

**xxxRena: A lot's going with Cato actually! Stuff I haven't revealed yet! Can't wait to show you all!**

**Me: yay another new chappie!**

**Hazu23: Ha! It's gonna be like Armageddon when she does! **

**LuliCullen: thank you!**

**Kiralol101: Can always count on you for an insightful review! I wanted to be realistic, because no relation has ever or will ever be perfect, I wanna test them through hard times so it causes them to become much stronger individually and together! And yes Faith was being very selfish when it came to Noelle, she was protecting her own feelings and she needs to learn to think of others sometimes, and haha yes shes definitely melodramatic! Always good to give your mind a break from reading educational things, sorry I haven't provided anything for you in a while! I'll try not to make it a habit!**

**Malin: Thank you for your lovely words! Always great to have a new reader! And I'll try not to! Thanks for the review! :D **

**Justapersonwithapony: It's fine no need to apologize! And the rebellion is coming! So very soon! And that means so much thank you!**

**Meko-fire demon tempest: Everyone loves a bit of Haymitch! **

**Rose Maple: Thank you so much! Its very uplifting to know that! :D **

**Abigleave: more is here!**

**Me: an update is here!**


	31. Sunset

"_I Know You'll Ask Me To Hold On, And Carry On Like Nothings Wrong, But There Is No More Time For Lies 'Cause I See Sunset In Your Eyes. I Can't Take It Any Longer, Thought That We Were Stronger, All We Do Is Linger, It's Slipping Through My Fingers. I Don't Wanna Try Now, All That's Left Goodbye To Find A Way That I Can Tell You I Hate This Part Right Here, I Just Can't Take You Your Tears." – Pussycat Dolls; I Hate This Part._

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The girl on fire they called her; and rightly so. Not just for her entrance at the tribute parade, that was in an entire different league of spectacular, but because of the fire you saw within her eyes, within the way she spoke, how she stood tall and fearless. She was something special, even the most bitter of people couldn't deny that, and her interview even had me feeling inspired by her, someone so young held so many burdens, so much passion and awareness of the world. I guess it was due to her living conditions in Twelve, the close bond she held with her sister was more than just one of sisters, I would even go as far as saying motherly.

In that sense I found myself filling such a strong connection towards her, to a girl I didn't even know, but I didn't need to. She was perfect, oh so perfect for inspiring and motivating those who would rebel, she of all people would feel the most strongly about it surely. Living in an outer District, left to practically starve, seeing children fear for their life every year when the Reapings took place. She of all people should be angered by Snow and the Capitol, and I could see it in her dark eyes whenever she looked into the crowd at her interview, startled by the loud roar of them of course, we all were at one point, but it was there; only visible to those who had suffered a great deal from the Capitol.

She surprised us all at every corner, as if she had a bag of tricks up her sleeve, and when that eleven came through on her training score I was more than pleased. It meant she had a chance, a very good chance, and I prayed with all my might for the odds to be in her favour for these Games. I was almost envious of her, for she had no idea of the effect she had on people, and I thought it best to stay that way, especially seeing as she would have a less than positive effect on Snow.

He himself knew this was dangerous, I didn't have to know him well enough to be sure of it, and she was an outer District, with a high score and an inspiring story as to why she volunteered. It was dangerous and he knew it, if she won it would change the course of the future in a heartbeat, and that more than anything in the world terrified Snow. He was a man of control, he needed to control everyone and everything around him in order to feel powerful, but this however was out of his control, and when a powerful man has become powerless very dangerous things can ensue.

What surprised more than anything however was her District partner; Peeta Mellark. Soft in nature and so obliviously incapable of causing harm, yet still somehow could not be written off, his large bulk was proof enough that he could physically take someone on, and his easy nature with the people of the Capitol was disarming. He was a boy good with words, and words were something that could be used quite often in times such as these, he himself could inspire greatly. His confession of love was a very bold move, and judging by the face of Katniss that night I doubted she had any idea it was coming.

It may have been for the camera's, to engage the viewers and earn sponsors, and a part of me believed it was. Yet somehow, even then I could see the shine in his eye, and I knew he completely had me; I _believed _every single word he said. Yes, he was very powerful with his words.

I had to give props to Seneca Crane this year, he had been rather creative with the Arena, I hadn't expected it at all, and in fact what I was expecting was for him to recycle any old environments for the tributes to be dropped in. Only he didn't, instead he went for the ruins of a very old city, before the years of Panem, sky scraper buildings were half destroyed, old vehicles littered and half burnt across the streets. New York City it had once been called, far too long ago for many people to remember its name, or whether it had been an actual city, but I remembered, mostly because I liked to research things such as these.

The cracks in the concrete floor of the city and outgrown many forms of plants and small trees, it almost made it look like they had melded a meadow with the city. Ash mixed into the dirty covered floor, indicating that the ruins had been there for a long time, a great war perhaps had destroyed the city. It no longer looked like a busy and perfectly clean place; it was wild. Lurking with creatures that could not be seen for the grass and trees were high enough to hide them. It was a perfect place for tributes to hide away from each other, along with the thousands of tall buildings and overgrown plants it was near damn impossible to spot.

It didn't seem to faze Katniss in the slightest, she had remarkable eyesight, and with her bow and arrow she was practically perfect with her targets when she hunted. I knew instantly that she must have done this back home, most likely making her own bow and arrow, hunting when she could, and I had no doubt in my mind that she was as thankful for her skill as she was now.

Being separated from Peeta barely seemed to affect her; she was constantly composed, calm and collected, eye always on the prize. Her mind on alert and ears always open for any unnatural sounds, prepared should anything happen. She was five days into her Games, and more than half of the tributes had been picked off, and it seemed Snow was not taking any chances this year with a contender such as Katniss.

The mutts this year were lethal, hunting day and night, and for the Careers it was rather unlucky for them, I can't say that I paid attention to the tributes from District Two this year; because I didn't. It was a predictable bunch once more, all who happened to loathe Katniss, seeing as she outdid them all with her training score. A park in the centre of the city was where they resided, it was there that the Cornucopia had been place, with trees completely outgrown to those similar from my games.

Only with the safety of the park came the mostly deadliest of mutations. Seneca was all about going back into history this year around, and again surprised me with the pre-historic predators he used. From the little time I spent learning ancient History in Two, I could just about place the name of the species; a dinosaur. It was extremely large, towering to over eighteen feet high, it's heard large with an outsized jaw, the teeth as sharp as razors and roar that could be heard probably throughout all of Panem.

Although its arms were miniature it didn't seem to faze the beast, for its speed and thick abnormally long tail did a fine job of destruction, and when swung about could easily knock a tree to the ground. No one would dare take on a beast that large, and there was more than one. The last time I had watched there had been three, scattered around the city, all hunting during the day, which caused most of the tributes to move and hunt by night.

Again Katniss seemed to overcome this problem, and easily worked out that if she kept quite and hidden the creature would fail to notice her. It reacted to quick movement and noise, resulting in me thinking that it was a rather unintelligent creature. His dark brown skin was worn and wrinkled, looking rough to the touch, and although his teeth were extremely sharp, it was covered in dirt and dried blood, just waiting to infect you should you escape its clutches with an injury.

It was quite for several days in the arena, and while the Careers spent them recouping after loosing a member to the creature, Katniss had found herself an unlikely alley. Rue was her name, from District Eleven, so young and so innocent, that my heart practically melted at her soft dark features and sweet voice. Something tore in my chest that day, for I found another similarity in Katniss, her relationship with Rue reminding me of my own ties, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't bring on a slight depression.

It made me crave the comfort of Cato even more, his warmth and soothing nature, not needing to offer any words was the best form of reassurance for me. It made me just that eager to get to the Capitol; I had taken an evening train, arriving in the early hours of the morning. I had a rather large job to do that evening, and knew I'd have to spend the day planning, so I planned on seeing Cato for a few hours in the morning before that. I hadn't seen him since he left for the Games, and the lack of contact between us almost killed me, reinforcing the idea once more to me that I was not ready to let our relationship turn to dust.

I waited in the elevator quietly, a small smile on my face, he didn't know that I was coming, and I rather looked forward to waking him from his sleep and surprising him. I didn't stay in this building for my visits to the Capitol; it was reserved for those who were mentors. I was only a few blocks down from here, and intended to stay for at least three more days before leaving. I smoothed down the creases my black silk blouse, tucked into a matching pencil skirt. I had never really been girly; it had only grown on me after Karina had begun forcing it down my throat.

The elevator let out a quite 'ding' which was barely noticeable, and I breathed a soft sigh as the doors slid open, my green eyes alight with excitement. My next footstep froze onto the barrier line between the elevator doors and District Two's floor, leaving the doors incapable of closing.

At seven in the morning there Cato stood, in the midst of pulling his shirt back over his head, bare foot and in boxer shorts. That alone wouldn't seem all the strange to me, if he weren't standing beside the door that led into Noelle's room, who herself was dressed in an inappropriately short silk nightgown, her arms folded as she leant against the door frame. My brain couldn't process the scene playing out before me, I was still attempting to try and believe that this was happening. It only really hit me however, when she grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him towards her so they could meet in passionate kiss, one I didn't even think Cato was capable of. It was lustful, and it made not only a lump in my throat form, but growing bile with it to collide together. Something between a gasp and whimper escaped my throat, and successfully startled the hormonal couple from their actions.

I don't think I had ever seen Cato's face turn so pale in such a short span of time, practically jumping metres away from Noelle who, as fucking always, stood there impassive. Suddenly I regretted nothing about not being the best mentor, and in turn made me want to claw and pummel into her perfect features with a crow bar. It was with that imagine, that I stepped fully back into the elevator, my shaking hand flying to the close button for the ground floor.

Then Cato sprang into action, his hand reaching out and his steps quickening as he went, my name practically on his lips before the doors closed.

I didn't cry. I think I was still in too much shock to cry, dazedly I walked down a busy street, my mind in limbo as I mulled over things, trying to see where I could have missed this. He showed no indication of ever fooling around, yeah he was distant, and we argued a lot … but never was he sneaky, nor did he ever lie about his whereabouts; I knew this well enough because I had come to learn when Cato would be lying. It was still early in the day, and although I know I had more pressing matters to attend to I couldn't seem to stop myself from wanting to escape from everything.

The café in which I had met Finnick and Haymitch in so many times was littered with many more, with large screens and bets taking place at different stands it was usually busy. A fountain was placed in the middle, a fairly large one, statues of two naked women sat at the top, the water pouring out of their hands as if they were cleansing others. I sat on the steps, completely unaware of the near silence everyone had as they paid attention to the large screens above, and rested one hand on my chin.

I didn't cry, and for some reason I wasn't even fighting off tears, none had formed yet. The only reason as to why I could think of was because it was still fresh in my mind, raw even, and I knew that when I eventually had to face him that everything would come crashing down on me like a collapsing building.

"Hey there princess," I almost didn't even hear the drunkards voice, being so wrapped up in my thoughts he had to nudge me before I finally looked to him, a dazed look on my face.

Haymitch sat down lazily beside me on the steps, leaning into the step behind us, a glass of dark brown liquid in his hands. I tried to remember a time when I _hadn't_ seen some sort of alcoholic beverage in his hand, and I couldn't come up with anything, and since this area was full of cafes and bars I wasn't surprised he had one now.

I apologised softly, turning my head up to the screen, confusing settling through me as I watched Katniss Everdeen line up her bow, hidden in the bushes of the park, only metres away from the Career's camp. It was empty, save for one tribute on watch, the others had appeared to have gone hunting, and she looked as if she were in the midst of creating far too much trouble for herself.

I remembered earlier in the Games that the Careers had lined up their supplies, and practically forced the kind from Three to set up traps around it; they were motions sensitive bombs from the podiums. And idea I knew they had gotten from Cato's games, for he and Clove were the ones to think that up before. Just like that, at the simple thought of him, my heart clenched and tore into thousands of pieces.

She shot her arrow, successfully ripping open a bag of apples, and what ensued after that actually made me flinch … I hadn't expected the explosion to be that loud and effective. It completely blew the Girl on Fire away, knocking her out cold in the bushes. I was in awe of her, the amount of courage she had, she truly was meant to win this.

"She admires you, you know?"

I turned back to Haymitch, giving him a questioning look before turning back to the screen where he was motioning, indicating to Katniss.

"She didn't say it in so many words, but then again she isn't really one for words," he chuckled to himself, as if it were an inside joke, before taking another sip of his drink, while I attempted to actually listen and to not zone out.

"How do you know?"

My voice was soft, and I muttered it quietly, I wasn't even sure if he had heard me properly.

"Tribute parade, she was lookin' around, caught her staring at Two's chariot, she turned back round before asking me why you weren't there, mentioned that the mentors change when there's the new winner."

"How did you conclude from that that she admires me?"

I looked to him sceptically, silently thinking that I should return to my hotel room, my job tonight was sadly not one I could do quietly. I think Snow was purposefully giving me ones in public in order for me to mess up, and tonight was a special occasion, the most well known men who had shares The Hunger Games were gather in a banquet, as well as victors, with a supposedly large screen in the hall so they could not miss a single thing from the Games.

Unfortunately for me, this meant people such as Haymitch and Finnick would be attending, so I would have to be in disguise as well as attempting to be seen as little as possible. For that I needed Karina, and strangely enough she didn't ask no questions when I told her I would be needed a dress, complete make over, and a wig.

Haymitch snorted, once again startling me out of my thoughts, "asking about you alone is an accomplishment … I think you remind her of herself."

"The feelings mutual," I spoke softly, before standing up and dusting off the back of my skirt, I offered him a tight smile, running my hands through my hair before I said my goodbyes.

"Hey kid!"

I turned back around to look at Haymitch a last time, seeing him now stand himself, the once silent Capitol people now back in full swing and loudness as the tense moment of Katniss' sabotage was over.

"Hang in there."

I nodded, pressing my lips together to stop them from trembling, I could not cry in public, before turning away from him, heading back to my hotel room. Little people knew, mostly because he was usually a drunken mess, but Haymitch Abernathy was one of the wisest people I had met, and although we knew nothing of each other, I considered him a good friend.

I don't know why I had done it, it were almost as if I wasn't aware of it when I was doing it. There I was in the bathroom, attempting to ignore my disastrous morning and take a relaxing shower. I had been in my bathrobe, drying my hair with a towel, the television placed in the corner was turned on as I watched what went on, Katniss only having just woke up. I watched her as she begun to worry over the whereabouts of her ally, her rush to find her when the young girl begun screaming her name, and the horror that had gone on after.

I stood stock still in the bathroom when it had happened, a spear plunged into the beautiful child from Eleven's gut, Katniss holding her as she bled out, singing her a soft lullaby as life left her.

It was too much, too similar and raw for me, overwhelming me with an unbearable amount of pain and guilt, toppling over my already bottled feelings from what I had caught Cato doing, and with the pressure of tonight in my head it was becoming too much to bear. I snapped, and I snapped in the most violent way, grabbing onto one of the large cream vases used in the bathroom and hauling it to the opposite wall, continuing with every other breakable thing I could find in there.

I screamed, louder than I had scream in a long time, and in the strangest way it relieved me, I screamed away all the anger, and hurt and betrayal I felt, I screamed until my throat hurt and it dried on. I sat on the bathroom floor, broken shards scattered around, and as I begun picking up broken shards was when I looked back to the screen. I watched as Katniss cried uncontrollably, and watched as she begun to cover Rue in flowers. It was beautiful, and so angelic, it was a send off the young girl deserved, and only someone as brave and unafraid as Katniss would do it.

Involuntarily my hands clenched around the broken shards, balling into fists as I attempted to stop the tears that now began to fall; I could feel myself plunging in a dark abyss of bitterness as despair. The pain from the broken pieces was what kept the numbness at bay, breaking into my flesh and blood seeping through the gaps. I watched as she gave Rue the three finger salute, something that had never been done before, she had gone against every unspoken rule of the Games, and she had done it so beautifully.

That was how Karina found me, sitting cross legged on the floor of my bathroom, surrounded by bits of broken glass and a tear stricken face. Blood seeped heavily into the fluffy white bathrobe beneath, running down my forearms and coating the fingertips of my hands. I hadn't even realised how long I had been sat that, staring blankly at the screen, I didn't even notice Karina crouch down before me with a towel in her hand, placing the other delicately on my shoulder.

"Oh Faith, what happened?"

I looked to her softly, my eyes glassy with tears, before looking down to my hands, and I suddenly realised just how bad this looked, only I couldn't find it in myself to care. I knew I was breaking, I knew I was giving in to Snow's continued pressure on me, but I just didn't care. He had taken everything from me, and I was just so tired, I wanted to give up. I wanted to surrender and let it all go, a good half of me wishing that I had died in that arena, my troubles lay to rest with me, no more pain, no more nightmares, no more flashbacks of the arena of when I had fucked up and cost the life of the most important person in the world to me

"I was … I was watching the Games … and then she died, and I thought of Mico and then …." I looked to my hands, losing my train of thought, I didn't know how to explain this, my voice was hoarse and low, and I knew I sounded crazy.

It looked like I had intentionally tried to hurt myself.

"Faith dear, maybe you should just stay home tonight … you're not in the state to go out, I'll stay with you."

I looked into her beautiful eyes, always so supportive and wise, her gold locks pulled back in an intricate bun, gems littered all over it, a simply white sleeved skin tight dress adorned her figure, and I knew it must have been difficult for her to crouch down in it. At those words I blinked rapidly, as if I allowed a part of me to return. I couldn't stay home, I had a job to do, and then I could return home and forget this all, forget everything.

Karina had to pry my hands open slowly, for the shards had dug deep into the palms of my hands, and I tried not to whimper in pain as I looked at the amount of damage I had caused myself. I watched her grimace as she covered them both in towels as quickly as possible, an attempt to stop the bleeding. She disappeared back into my room after that, and I briefly heard her on the phone with reception, before she quietly informed me she'd be right back.

I sat quietly when she applied ointment onto my hands, wrapping them in gauze and bandages, and even with the fast healing ointment I could feel how sore my hands were whenever I flexed them ever so slightly.

We didn't speak after that, and I didn't think we needed to, I had no words to say, nothing to make the mood feel better, and Karina didn't offer any, much like Cato she was mostly silent support. There goes his name again, dropped into my thoughts so easily, and if my hands weren't in so much pain I would have smacked one to my lips to cover the sob that was escaping. I didn't, and eventually the sobs turned into crying, and the tears began to fall again. Karina let me cry, her soft hands brushing through my hair soothingly, wiping my face of the stray tears whenever she could. She placed a soft kiss on top of my head, guiding me to the vanity table, and placing me down to take a seat. Her bags of make-up and hair accessories littered the table itself, and she sifted through them silently as she picked up a brush.

She brushed through my hair several times, and I noticed in the mirror that she would count each other, almost as if it were a routine. Her features so naturally beautiful, and although covered in make-up, was not surgically enhanced in the slightest.

She wrapped it into a simple bun, the green wig ready for me already. It was simple, going way past the shoulders and it soft curls, matching the colour of an early spring grass. It felt real to the touch and smelt of spring funnily enough. Already I could see the change forming, and as Karina readied her make up I had to wonder why she had never asked questions when she helped me with these things, part of me thinking that maybe she knew, or was informed by the organisation to help me. I knew being a make-up artist for the games wasn't her only job, and was relatively private about everything in her life, she seemed capable enough of keeping secrets, so maybe she did know.

"Alright, let's get this done quickly," she breathed out, swirling the chair around to face me with her eyeliner, "I've got to get Noelle ready for a banquet tonight."

I tried not to stiffen as much as I could when her name was uttered, nor did I allow my eyes to widen at the fact that brat was attending tonight, which most likely meant Cato would be too.

Karina worked swiftly with me, attaching long green eyelashes onto mine, and matching eyeliner to go with it, a nude coloured lipstick painted onto my lips. I knew I would look anything like myself, especially with the wig that was given to me, it would be near damn impossible to recognise me, and if I made sure to keep to the shadows I was sure it would stay that way.

I was silent as she fetched the dress, which I would be lying if I had said I didn't like it, Karina had the ability to make even the most ridiculous outfits somehow look good. It was one shouldered, made of silk and again a nude colour, only it was littered in emerald gems, practically looking as if it was decorated in Christmas lights. A single slit in the dress had been made, reaching to just above the knee, and for this I was thankful, for that would were I placed my weapon; a back up if my original plan would not work.

I stared at the finished product in front of me, feeling as if I was staring into the eyes of another person completely, I was not Faith Willows, I was a new person, someone with a perfect Capitol life and for a moment I almost wish I had that life. A life where I had grown up with both parents, where I had job that _I _had control over, a life where I had someone who loved me and never once doubted that they did.

But I didn't have that life, because there was no such thing as a perfect life, and life was unfair and cruel and completely took away your ability to have any belief in anything.

Hal way through the night and my job was half done; the first was getting the target to notice me, which wasn't difficult in the dress I was wearing, hugging certain areas of my figure. He wasted in no time sending a guard to offer a drink alone with him later in the evening, he had the largest share in the company, and from what I had gathered he refused to kill off Katniss Everdeen when Snow had requested it.

It was disgusting of me I knew, to kill the man who was keeping alive the very person I knew would be Panem's saviour, yet the image of Ivy and Ellie constantly filtered into my head, reminding me of why I did this. He was a rather old man, quite disgusting too, sitting in his group of members, smoking their cigars and leering at passing women. I sat in a corner of the bar, barely noticeable to the eye of everyone else, as laughter and chatter filtered the marble hall, some watching the screen above as the careers hunted another tribute, while Katniss searched for her tribute partner.

They had announced a revocation of the rules, that two tributes from the same district could become co-victors, and it was exactly the motivation Katniss had needed to spur her on. Only hours prior had I watched her weep in the tree for Rue, and even though I had been glad for her to be allowed this luxury, I still could not help the feeling of envy and bitterness seep into me. There had been no revocation for my Games, and that had been the damn Quell, maybe I hadn't been interesting enough, because I wasn't a star crossed lover. It hardly seemed fair, almost too good to be true, and the rational side of me should have listened to the voice in my head saying that it _was_ too good to be true.

I watched silently in the corner as Vanhorn Landa stood from his seat among the men, dark black hair streaked with dark blue highlights, all of it combed back, matching the tuxedo he wore, his stomach slightly bulging from his tight white shirt, looking to be in his mid forties.

He muttered into one of his guard's ears, a man with dark features and dressed rather plainly, just like all the other security members I had crossed before. Before his dark eyes connected to mine, he smirked and raised his glass, and I raised mine with a smirk of my own. Waiting patiently as I watched his guard weave through the crowds and towards me, I slid off the stool I occupied, leaving my glass there, and followed him as he nodded his head back the way he had come. My hand softly adjusted the fabric on my right leg, where I had place my gun mid thigh, hidden perfectly well as always.

I bumped the shoulders of a lot of people in the crowds, so I didn't take much notice to those around me, I constantly replayed the plan in my mind, making sure I hadn't left any blind spots. Anything to occupy my mind from the troubles it already contained, I couldn't allow myself to become emotional in such a crucial time.

A hand grabbed onto my elbow, the elderly man smiling charmingly at me in the group he was in, and I looked up at him questioningly. He had been in the midst of talking, and as I eased my hand out of his grip from his wrinkled hand I did my best to smile as politely as I could.

"This lovely pair doesn't seem to believe that they look wonderfully happy together. Whereas I think they do, don't you agree?"

I'd forgotten how open Capitol people were with each other, how they had no sense of privacy when it came to conversations, you could invite yourself into one and be treated as if you were a family member. It was something I wasn't used to, coming from the coldness of District Two, so it took me a second to recover myself from the old mans openness, before I turned to the couple beside me.

Of course, I thought, this would be just my fucking luck, and my stomach dropped as if on cue at Cato and Noelle, who both stood rather close to each other, too close to call themselves just friends. It made me sick, and although Cato looked to be annoyed and occupied with his thoughts, it still didn't seem enough to at least have the audacity to care that I was off somewhere distraught over what I had witnessed. He looked to me then, our eyes locking, and as recognition took over his features I knew in an instant he had figured who I was. Of course he would, Cato knew me inside and out, I could be dressed as a man and he would still recognise me, it was my eyes, he knew them like no other.

Noelle barely even seemed to notice I was there, her perfectly shaped eyes looking into the distance with her face expressionless. What a fucking boring bitch. Who again, had the audacity to latch onto the man I had spent almost two years of my life with.

"Ecstatic," I seethed out, unable to keep the venom of my words at bay, before shooting off and losing myself into the crowd, getting lost in the sea of people before I finally reached my destination.

It was just my luck that night, I should have seen it coming really that everything would fuck up and things would get messy. The poison I had slipped into Landa's drink took effect at a slow rate, enough for him to make some noise and fall out of his chair in an attempt for help. The elbow high silk gloves I wore came in handy that night, as well as hiding my bandages it would leave no trace of finger prints when I quickly snapped his neck.

The guard had come barging into the room after that, and luckily my gun was at such easy access, with him in the midst of pulling his out of his jacket pocket I had fired two shots. I hated using guns, they were a last resort, and made an unnecessary amount of noise, causing the entire hall to have heard the bangs. The entire place erupted into panic, and I fled as quickly as possible, melding into the crowd of panicked colours, only looking back once when I had exited the building, crowds gathering outside as sirens for their police force reached closer.

Green eyes connect with blue only a few metres away, his narrowed and confused, Noelle no where to be seen, and as he attempted a step towards me I turned my back, diving into another group of people, losing myself to the crowd.

That was what Snow had wanted, he knew the poison wouldn't be affected, I should have known better than to get comfortable, he was going to set me up sooner or later. It was by far the sloppiest job I had ever done, and I knew for certain that in the news tomorrow someone would mention a woman of my fake appearance. They always did. I unlocked the door of my hotel room, one hand grabbing onto the wig and ready to take off the monstrosity as soon as my door closed, I was seething. Seething at Cato, seething at Snow, seething at the Game makers for their stunt on two victors; I was seething at the world.

I had never been this bitter and riled up before, I was ready to break another vase and clench my hands around broken shards once more, I was sick and tired of everything. Only it seemed life had not finished fucking around with my emotions yet, for when I closed the door behind me and pulled off the wig, who should my eyes land on but the man I thought was my other half?

He sat at the end of the bed, hands wringed together and his shirt undone at the top, he looked distraught, tired and in agony. Only I couldn't find it in my heart to care, instead I felt an immense amount of satisfaction, because I wanted Cato to feel the amount of pain I was going through right now.

"Tell me that wasn't you."

I ignored him, throwing the wig on the vanity table, and pulling my hair out of the bun, my hands weaving through my red locks as I heard him fidget.

"Faith, did you kill him?"

I looked into the mirror briefly, to see he was staring so intently back at me through it, and as our eyes connected I knew that he already had it figured out. His hands ran down his face in stress, before leaning his elbows on his thighs, burying his head into his hands.

"He's making you do this, isn't he?"

I turned back around, my face void of emotion and hard, I was not about to explain myself and justify my actions when only this morning I had caught him leaving the warm bed of another woman.

"When did we start lying to each other?"

His voice was muffled, and emotionally he sounded exhausted, I looked down to the floor, slipping out of my heels and sitting on the vanity chair.

"I don't think we were ever truthful to begin with."

His head shot up and how cold and hard my voice was, blanching as if I had just slapped him as a reply.

"How could you keep this from-"

"Don't you _dare_ begin a lecture about me lying when I caught you sleeping with another woman!" my tone dripped with acid, and it raised a few octaves with every word.

He had nothing to say to that, and merely looked down, so clearly ashamed of himself. I promised myself not to let my emotions over run should this conversation happen, not to torture myself with questions that I knew I didn't want to know, only I couldn't. Images began playing in my mind, thoughts of how he behaved with her, of him looking lovingly at her and running his fingers through her hair like he did with me.

"How long?"

He sighed exhaustedly, and looked as if it physically pained him to answer, his voice coming out strained and weak, like nothing I had ever heard before.

"Since the victory tour."

My throat constricted a dramatic amount, and I found myself getting up from my seat, pacing the floor as I attempted to keep down the gasps that left my lips. My chest hurt, more than it had ever done so before, and I almost wanted to crouch down into a ball as if that would stop the pain, and I knew it wouldn't. Nothing would ease the pain of a heart breaking.

"Do you love her?!- actually no don't tell me," I turned away from him, questions burning the back of my throat, questions I knew would only worsen the pain, "you know go on tell me!"

He looked up to me, his eyes innocent and childlike as I turned back around to him, his mouth opening and closing as if he had no idea what to say.

"I only want to know so I can see how big of an idiot I've been."

"Faith- look .. no! No I don't … It's just things were so hard between us."

"Hard?" I choked out, in mock laughter, my vision blurring as I ran my hands through my hair violently, "_hard?!_ Fuck Cato I knew things were _hard_ but I didn't know you'd.."

I couldn't even finish my words, the idea sickened me to the ends of the earth and back, the images sickened more than Snow ever could in a lifetime. I was breaking to a point beyond repair, and I was clueless as to how to stop it. Things were destroyed now.

"Faith, you make it so _difficult _sometimes, you shut me out and keep me at a distance! I barely feel like your boyfriend sometimes!"

"Because of this!" I screamed, tears streaming down my fast at a rapid pace, a sob escaping my lips as I motioned between us, "because I can practically _feel _things like this about to happen, because I'm so terrified of losing the only things that mean a damn to me! I've had everything taken from me, and you knew that! You knew I was trying!"

He stood then, and even though his own voice begun to rise I could see in his face he was just as broken, but for the life of me I had completely lost the ability to care. I was the one who had witness the man I gave myself to with another woman, I was the one who lost everything in that arena, I was the one who had nothing but Cato left. So why should I feel any sympathy for his pain at all?

"I sleep with a different woman every night! So why does it even-"

"BECAUSE IN HERE YOU WERE FAITHFUL TO ME!"

I pushed at his chest, indicating to wear his heart was my voice hysterical as his face became completely distorted to me.

"BECAUSE I KNEW IN THERE YOU WOULD NEVER GIVE YOURSELF TO SOMEONE ELSE!"

Silence descended upon us for a long time after that, and I took steps away from him to lean my head against the door, sliding down it until I brought my knees up. My head pounded in pain as he stood there, his hair a mess and his face ashen, shoulders slumped in defeat. We said nothing for a long time, and I stared at the ceiling as I allowed my sobs to slow on their own, until there was no sound left, until it was only silent tears softly falling down my cheeks, my make-up most likely completely smudged. Green eyeliner smeared all over the silk gloves Karina have given me, only then reminded me of the bandages beneath it.

"That morning of the reapings I saw your face, and at the time I didn't want to admit it but you didn't look the same … I had this voice in the back of my head saying that you can't seem to see where you want to be."

My voice was raw, sounding just as broken as I felt, and I didn't bother looking away from the ceiling to see if he was looking at me, I couldn't seem to bare that in this current moment. I let out a soft bitter laugh, a memory of a happier time seeping into my head, one where I had said the exact same thing I was about to say in this very room.

"So I guess this is it?"

Even I heard the soft whimper escape his lips as I looked back, and sat on the floor directly across from me, his head buried in his hands once more as he leaned against the foot of the bed.

"How do I fix this Faith?"

He was pleading, and my heart tore at the thought, as much as I wanted to believe that he could fix it I knew it was impossible, we were too far gone to be able to salvage this.

"You can't."

He looked up, his eyes alight with something I had never seen before, and his blue orbs shined in the light, making me realise he was fighting off his own set of tears.

"But I love you."

Another sob tore at my chest, feeling the pieces of my heart left crumble and crush into dust, it seemed almost cruel of him to say it, so bittersweet, two years we had both been so afraid of admitting it. Only allowing himself too when the chance had gone, and again I thought to myself just how unfair life was, how cruel it could be.

"I love you too," I whispered, but as I wiped away tears I looked directly into his eyes, a sense of clarity washing over me as I let out my next words in a shaky breath, "but sometimes love isn't enough Cato."

I didn't allow him to make an input, I had to finish my point, to make him realise that this was the end.

"You once told me that you didn't need to look at other women because you had me."

I watched as a single tear slid down his perfectly defined cheek, his eyes the most beautiful shade of blue I had ever seen, because they portrayed such a strong emotion; heartbreak.

"It's not like that anymore Cato, you've stopped trying … we're broken."

* * *

**Yeah .. uhm … so don't hate me? I know this sucks, I actually got a little chocked up writing this, but it was a long time coming, I knew I'd be going in this direction for a long time. FINALLY the suckish parts of the story are done, and now I can get on with *drum roll* THE REBELLION!**

**Btw I know it's a little early, but when I'm writing I listen to quite a few soundtracks and what not, and I found a song that I feel is quite fitting for the mood and tone of the rebellion in Faith's POV. If you wanna check it out on Youtube it's called "Sencit Music – Something to Fight For" I don't know I just found it really fitting **

**I thought you all deserved a long chapter after the disgrace that was the last one, this ones almost fifteen pages! **

**Designation Lullaby: I got chills writing it! It was my favourite part!**

**ILoafPeet3: Yep, I sorta did a pretty big timeskip, otherwise we would have just been on a load of filler chapters and it would have been so boring! I didn't want to lose any more motivation than I already had! And thank you that means a lot!**

**Luli Cullen: thank you!**

**xxxRena: Yeah I thought that was pretty sweet to, it's a shame it went in such a bad direction! Thank you for reviewing!**

**Hazu23: Thank you! I hope you all love the rebellion I have quite a lot planned for it! And yep, not the perfect couple AT ALL! **

**PiecesInTheirGames: Haha yep! Faito and Denny! BEST SHIPS EVER! I'm glad I kept this little piece of info from you, I wanted to see your reaction so badly! And I know, it has been a while since the RP! And yeah she's DEFINITELY gonna need another female now! Ha! … I'm sorry that's not funny XD YES YES KATNISS! I LOVED MAKING UP MY OWN ARENA FOR HER! Sorry I spazzed there. And thank you hunny, you're motivational talk spurs me forward! 3 **

**xXRosexScorpiusXx: Yep, Katniss is up in her blowing shit up! Cato and faith wont be making up any time soon I'm afraid … sorry and yes Strike was a nasty as hell character! And thank you! It means so much to me for you to say that! Katniss's games wont be done in much detail, mostly because people know what happens! I only switched around the arena and changed a few things here and there.**

**JustAPersonWithAPony: Thank you so much! I know it was really appalling with how short it was but for you to still be happy means a lot! Really? I thought people saw it coming, I don't want to take her out of the story, she's a crucial part to the rebellion so tbh she needs to be there! And ha thank you, I don't believe that a relationship will always be perfect, this chapter was a prime example of that! And don't worry I'll try as hard as possible to refrain from a hiatus! I truly love this story and want to finish it! It's my baby! **


	32. Over

"_I Wish You Could Give Me The Cold Shoulder, I Wish You Could Still Give Me A Hard Time, And I Wish I Could Still Wish It Was Over. I'll Leave The Door On The Latch If You Ever Come Back, There'll Be A Light In The Hall And A Key Under The Mat If You Ever Come Back, There'll Be A Smile On My Face And The Kettle On, It'll Be Just Like You Were Never Gone." – The Script; If You Ever Come Back._

* * *

The tension in the Valentine house hold was so thick that it could have been cut through with a knife, Cato had failed to look his mother in the eyes without feeling an ounce of shame, and that was how it had remained since he returned from the Capitol. He had told her of course, though he doubted Faith would have, she hadn't shown her face since the night she had told them they were over, but he knew the news needed to come from him. Ivy had said nothing; she simply stared at Cato in shock, before retreating into the kitchen.

That was how Ivy Valentine dealt with severe situations, in silence and skirting around the subject, and it worked just fine for her. Today however was simply too much, for the Capitol magazine cover that sat on her kitchen counter stuck out like a sore thumb, practically burning a hole into Ivy's marble counter. The picture was the main headline in all of Panem, one that couldn't be covered up with lies on how it wasn't what it looked like, a picture of Cato and Noelle in a very intimate embrace had confirmed rumours of their relationship, becoming the new celebrity couple that the Capitol citizens fawned over so much.

They weren't as popular or as loved as Katniss and Peeta were, not by a long shot, but it was definitely big news, especially since both Cato and Faith had been badgered so heavily over whether _they_ were a couple.

"When Faith sees this it's going to kill her. I hope you're proud of yourself."

Ivy's tone wasn't hard or acidic, it held no feelings of animosity, he was her son after all, but her voice did drip with sadness, a sigh escaping her lips softly.

"You know if you hate me just say, I'm tired of walking around eggshells!"

Ivy gave her son an incredulous look, before wiping her hands with a dish cloth and staring at him, arms folded.

"Hate you? You are my _son_ Cato … despite the incredibly stupid things you do, I will always love you … but I am, however, disappointed in you … this isn't you," her hands motioned to him and the magazine, her eyes watering at what her son had become, "the Cato I knew wouldn't have let Faith walk away from him."

"She said it's over! She said we're broken! What else am I supposed to do?!"

"Fight for her. You fight for the people you love Cato, isn't that the reason you went into the Games to begin with? For me and your sister? Faith's right, you have stopped trying."

Cato bowed his head as his mother walked past him soundlessly, a hand running through his hair in exasperation. No one hated him more than he hated himself at that moment, and he knew that for a fact. It was too late for apologies, for excuses, nothing was going to justify what he had done. As pathetic as it sounded he hadn't really realised how grave his actions were, it had first only begun as being some form of comfort for Noelle, and she struggled with her time in the Games and had simply needed someone to confide it, someone who knew how it felt to be _violated_. He was stuck in his own bubble after that, unaware of how damaged his relationship with Faith was getting, becoming angry with her and lashing out over the smallest things, it was all out of guilt for what he was doing.

People would ask, if he felt that guilty, why he didn't stop it before it escalated, and the truth was _he didn't know_. There was obviously something there for Noelle, but not enough to say it was ever or would ever be love, and it would never compare to the amount of love he carried for Faith. She was the red headed fire cracker that would spit it his face should he test her temper, and kick him in her sleep when they shared their bed at night.

He hadn't seen her since before the Games had ended, which was almost three months ago, and in that time he hadn't stopped seeing Noelle. Again he had no idea why, he supposed it was just out of fear of being alone, so he wouldn't have to constantly think of the fact that a great hole was present in his chest. A hole he had brought upon himself to have, and for the way he was still behaving he knew he deserved a whole lot more.

He had only returned to the house once, knowing he would have to hell to pay should he return when Faith was present, and grabbed what he could of his belongings. He was almost surprised that she hadn't burnt everything he owned, she was shutting him out, and he knew how volatile and violent she could be when she blocked out the entire world.

He found himself barely caring when the Games had ended, when Fire Girl had won with the blonde kid by attempting to kill themselves, the only thought that passed his mind in that time was how much that was killing Faith, knowing that she would have given anything to come out of the Games with Mico. Along with her heart break of his betrayal and the burden of Snow forcing to kill off people of his choice.

He gritted his teeth at the thought of the man, no doubt in his mind that he had used Cato and his family as a threat to Faith, she had nothing else to lose should she say no. He knew Faith, he knew the thought of giving herself entirely to someone terrified her, yet he knew she had been trying a great deal with him, which is why he couldn't blame her for not telling him, and if things had been going correctly, if _he_ hadn't destroyed the only thing he felt worth living for, then he knew she would have told him.

In the end it wasn't Snow who had taken the only family she had left from her, it was Cato, the person she would least suspect it to be, who had pulled out the only stability she had from under her feet. That more than anything, was what killed him inside everyday.

He knew now she would become reckless, already taking to avoiding him and Ivy at any cost, he had heard from Finnick that she had been offering at any opportunity to get involved in the rebellion. Which was now well on the way to happening thanks to Fire Girl, Cato didn't think she was the type of person to lead a rebellion personally, but he couldn't deny that her motivation was there, besides she had no choice now, Snow would kill her the first chance he was given, and she knew it. Faith was going to get herself killed, he knew what she was like when she went off the rails, when she stopped caring over things, the last time he had seen things ripped away from her she had gone on a killing spree in the Games, and he'd be damned if he let fall that hard again.

She may not like it, she may not even want to be around him, but like his mother had said, the Cato she knew would fight for what he loved. And that was exactly what he intended to do.

* * *

I had never been so excited, until now, to just get home to my empty bed. The amount of bruises and pain I felt myself covered in was beyond bearable, and maybe if I wasn't as stupid as to think Snow was done with setting me up, I would have been prepared for the ambush in my last job. I had barely gotten out of the mans mansion, who supposedly would be alone that night, only to have guards at every corner of his door, an anonymous tip sent to him of his planned assassination. I grit my teeth together from the pain in my back, looking at myself in the mirror that morning I didn't expect to see as many bruises as I did.

A cut lip and two black eyes had me constantly wearing a hood, shielding my face of prying eyes, and black and blue patches covered my ribs and stomach all the way to my back. I had been outnumbered, and I probably wouldn't have made it out alive if I didn't carry a set of tweens. They were small back devices, the size of a rolling dice, which worked just as effectively as a grenade, successfully blowing half the guards into oblivion, and damaging the structure of the house itself. It looked as if it were a planned terrorist attack, which again was all over the news like my last failure of a job, I had to take some satisfaction though, out of the fact that every time Snow tried trapping me, I managed to crawl my way out of with the scrape of my teeth.

The only highlight of it all was that the closer I got to Snow with all these jobs I somehow managed to succeed in, the closer I would be to bringing him down in the rebellion. It was so close now; I could feel the shift in people as if it were happening tomorrow. I should be so lucky, instead I was told to wait until the victory tour, which to be fair was a pretty clever idea, it would be when Snow is at his weakest, thinking he was at his most powerful. The Victory Tour was his territory, meaning we would take him off guard and completely have the upper hand. Better yet they were attacking in Two, it was all perfectly arranged, the element of surprise, pick up Peeta and Katniss, as well as loyal rebel members, and destroy their main weapons base.

I had to admit my surprise, and slight jealously at the fact Katniss had managed to bring Peeta out of the arena with her. It hardly seemed fair, that she should be allowed to bring him out with her, when none of us had been given the chance, but I had to remind myself that this was good, because it only inspired people more than with determination and courage, we could beat the Capitol. We could win.

Every time my eyes closed they would return to her final night in the arena, making her way to the Cornucopia with Peeta in a sprint, the fastest and most deadly mutations I had ever seen hot on their heels. They were prehistoric creatures once again, only on a much smaller scale that the last, Ceasar had named them Raptors, his eyes glued to the screen as mine had been. They were fast, too fast for someone to outrun for long and extremely clever too, almost as if they were working in a group, formulating their plan and surrounding the remaining tributes, causing them to head to the Cornucopia.

It didn't stop there, not only were they physically terrifying, but mentally I knew that the image of them would imprint on Katniss' and Peeta's mind for the rest of their lives. They had engineered the creatures to look like the fallen tributes, in a way I didn't think possible. Their rough skin was the colour of each tribute's complexion, eyes flickering in their colours like they usually would have been. I distinctly remembered when it had clicked in Katniss' mind, when she had realised one was Rue, another a Career, I forced myself to look away at that point. Picturing in my head how that would have broken me had that happened in my Games, it was too much to bear, let alone watch it unfold on screen.

I rubbed at my sore side absentmindedly, shifting in my cushioned seat, looking out of the window beside me, seeing nothing but a blur of greenery as the train sped through to District Two. I winced, feeling a shooting pain in my abdomen, looking forward to lying down in my own bed and applying healing ointment. Sleep. That was what I wanted the most, and not just because I felt exhausted, but because sleeping made me forget of all the shit things that had been going down, because when I was asleep I was a blank slate, no Cato, no Noelle, no rebellion, no loss of my parents of Mico, just an endless meadow of nothing.

I scowled at the magazine cover that a Capitol member had left on the coffee table in front of me; it seemed no one was allowing me to ignore the fact that this wonderful relationship was Panem's shiny new toy. Cato seemed to have no problem being seen with Noelle in public, yet I had gone two years with keeping our relationship as quite as can be, I prayed to god she was worth it, destroying something I had though was so special so easily.

Bitter and volatile feelings spread through me, over powering the pain of my bruises and cuts, day dreams of torturing both Noelle and Cato forming in my head. I think the worst part was that I felt so humiliated by it all, the humiliation and betrayal above all else was worse than the actual pain of what he did. I scoffed, thinking of the last few words he had given me, 'I love you', he knew me too well, he knew nothing like that could fix what he had done, so I failed to understand why he had said it in the first place, when he knew it was over.

The pain was always there, that gaping hole in my chest, the feeling of a lump constantly in my throat, and the mental image of when I had first seen them together was always present in my mind. It hurt, it hurt a lot more than I had expected it to, and I threw myself into any work I could find in order to avoid it.

My stomach churned suddenly, almost making me want to gag, the nauseous feeling I was beginning to feel was all to familiar, I had lost my appetite in the last three months, I had simply lost motivation in looking after myself, there wasn't anything left for me here. My stomach grumbled on cue, and I had to cover a mouth to my hand to stop another gag, my head hurt beyond words, and my body was in complete pain. I couldn't eat right now.

"Fancy seeing you hear beautiful," I cringed away from the loud musical voice of Finnick Odaire, and suddenly I had wished that I had retired to a designated room hours ago.

I didn't reply, nor did Finnick seem to expect one, instead he plopped down beside me, his light blue button up shirt tight against his chest, the top buttons undone as a form of teasing to every single female that existed in Panem. His head tilted to the side in a childlike manor, crystal blue eyes staring curiously at me with me soft smile, and I bowed my head down even more, pulling at the hood of my coat. Me knees were drawn up to my chest, although it did nothing but pain my ribs more, but it helped in creating a wall around me, Finnick seemed to notice this.

"Cato told me."

"Told you what exactly?"

My voice was low, and I kept my head trained to the floor, my eyelids feeling heavy and bruised, I was practically ready to pass out, and a pep talk from Finnick Odaire was at the bottom of my priority least at the moment. His tone had lost the playful edge it had to it before, and he suddenly sounded a lot older than he usually did.

"Everything."

I was silent for a long time, not that there was much I could say, his words had pretty much ended the conversation, yet I still felt like he expected more out of it.

"I should have seen it coming," I spat out, my teeth grinding together as the scene of our break-up replayed in my mind over and over again, "realistically what can I expect him to do? Our relationship was over before I even found out."

My eyes stung with unshed tears, I hadn't cried since that night, I refused to, I preferred to deal with it the unhealthy way and bottle it up, ignore it and vent it out in a way I knew best to; by killing. I hoped to god that I was allowed to do some form of training and join the rebel army; I couldn't sit around in some secret base camp waiting for all of it to be over. That wasn't me and it never would be.

"You thought it was going to be easy? It's hard work … hell; you think Annie's a walk in the park? No relationship is perfect, but I seriously think it's gonna be okay."

"No, not it's not."

I shrugged off the hand he hand placed on my shoulder, wincing and biting down on my lip hard as I rose from my seat, feeling the muscles in my back contract painfully as I turned to move, Finnick finally catching a glimpse of my beat up face. He blinked twice, eyes focusing on the bruises beneath my hood, before frowning and closing his eyes, a soft sigh escaping his lips.

"I'm tired of constantly being hurt by people."

I walked slowly out of the main cart, only stopping once as I heard Finnick's soft voice, his words some how hitting me in the deepest depths of my heart.

"Everyone's gonna hurt you … you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for."

* * *

I woke with a start hours later, my mind foggy and I found myself feeling over heated, a blanket wrapped around me and a flames burning in the fire place of my living room. I was strewn across the couch, a pillow under my head, and for a moment my mind felt completely baffled as to how I had gotten there. The last thing I remembered was limping in the night from the station to my home, my jacket wrapped tightly around me, scarf knotted tightly together, and my hood up, the harsh cold weather of winter hitting full force in Two.

Her memories then went to when she entered her home, the entire place dark and cold, for she hadn't been home for almost two weeks. I remembered feeling beyond exhausted, my back and abdomen in an excruciating amount of pain; it felt physically draining for me to stand on my feet for too long. So I leaned against the wall in the hallway, and slid down to the floor, it was only meant to be for a second, but I had been so tired I that I must have fallen asleep there.

The living room was in darkness save for the fireplace alight, and the only other light that seemed to radiate in any other part of the house was from the kitchen. The soft sound of a kettle boiling echoed through to the living room, and holding back a gasp of pain I sat up, swinging my legs over the couch and to the cold floorboards beneath. I noticed now that I was no longer in my jacket, and my black boots had been taken off, leaving me in just my jeans and long sleeved shirt. Karina had chosen it, the black and white stripes matching the black skinny jeans she had dressed me in, not that I had any sense of style my self.

I rolled the sleeves up to my elbows, picking up the blanket and wrapping it around my shoulders, before I trod softly out into the hallway and towards the kitchen. The site before I could say shocked me, but then again no one else had keys to my house, so instead of blanching, my eyes narrowed and sneer worked it's way up to my words.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?"

Cato turned abruptly, seeming to be startled by my voice; he was faced towards the kitchen counter, a pot on the stove heating some liquid substance; soup most likely, and steam sifted out of the kettle as it heated slowly. His blue eyes cast down to the floor for a moment, before making its way back up to my face, he looked pained for a moment as he stared at the sporadic cuts and bruises across my face.

"I … I uh … I came to get the last of my stuff, and I found you asleep out in the hall."

"You should have left with your stuff long ago."

I half limped past him, and he backed up to make way for me, looking as if he were afraid of me, that if he made any physical contact I would lash out.

"You looked terrible … I couldn't just leave you there."

"That's not for you to decide," I shot back, turning off the stove to see he had been heating a simple tomato soup, something he always made for me when I felt sick, and the audacity for him to make it today only caused a surge of anger inside me, "you can fuck off now."

The insult seemed to fly right over his head, and he turned his back on me, heading to a cupboard below the sink, pulling out the box of medicines and ointment we stored there, and selecting a bottle, he placed on the dining table.

"This one should get rid of the bruises," he said, opening the cap, and only raised his head to look at me when I stood there in silence and incredulous look on my face.

"Are you deaf? Or has fucking Noelle made you a lot slower than usual? I told you to _leave_."

He sighed tiredly, running a hand through his hair, something he had always done when stressed, his blue t-shirt was creased and the baggy jeans he wore indicated that he probably hadn't done much today except lounge around his house. Probably feeling sorry for him self.

"No."

"Excuse me?"

His voice was quite, and he didn't make eye contact with me when he said those words, but I heard them just the same with a wary look on his face, almost as if he were unsure of himself. The anger I felt from his lack of respect in my own home made me want to scream at the top of my lungs, but instead I bit down on my tongue, knowing he probably wanted me to burst, so instead I'd keep my tone cold and dripping with distaste.

"I said no," he breathed out, his arms folding as his eyes softened, watching me, "you don't have to like me being here, you can spit out hurtful things that I probably deserve, but I'm not going anywhere."

My eyes narrowed towards him, nostrils flaring as I turned my back on him, reaching to the unit above the stove to collect a bowl for the soup. The searing jolt of pain that flew through my ribs took me completely off guard, almost making it feel as if I had just been punched in that same place again, and I doubled over in pain, one hand bracing the edge of the counter, the other cradling my ribs as I sank down.

Cato was by my side in a millisecond, his hands hesitating to touch my shoulder, and as I hissed in pain with already fiery anger bubbling inside, "don't touch me," I spat at him, my arm lashing out to push him away.

He caught my wrist easily, and as I tried yanking it out of his grip it did nothing to calm the pain in my ribs, I hissed again, bowing my head down and readjusting to sit on the floor.

Cato approached me once more, his other arm encircling around my shoulders, and this time I let the anger take full power, my voice rising to a scream and pushing at him harder than I ever would, sending him to fall back onto the floor not far from me.

"_I said don't touch me!_"

"Damn it Faith I'm trying to help!"

"I don't want your fucking help!" I screamed at him, tears stinging my eyes for more than just the physical pain of my injuries, "I want you to leave and not come back!"

He stilled, probably noticing the glassy look in my eyes, Cato could always tell when I was about to cry, before I even knew it myself. He just seemed to fail to understand what being here meant, the amount of pain that it caused me, almost as if a shard of sharp glass sat in the gaping hole in my chest, piercing into the edges and constantly reminding me of the pain that would never leave. I was bitter, and angry and heartbroken, and I just wanted to be left the fuck alone.

"Faith-" he began to struggle with his words, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, stuttering out and deciding against it until he thought of the correct words, "just because we're not- I'm not … it doesn't mean I don't still lo-"

"_Don't_."

I said through gritted teeth, repeating it several times and burying my head into my knees, whimpering as I felt an ache in my back, I fought so hard to keep the tears from falling, but it were almost like Cato were a key, unlocking this tidal wave of emotions, and in a way he was, because even now I couldn't deny that no one made me feel like this.

"You don't have the right to say that … not anymore … just leave."

He said nothing, only the sound of my laboured breaths and choked sobs were heard between us, and slowly, softer than anything he had done before, lifted me into his arms. One hooking under my knees, the other moving to support my back, moving gently as I softly gasped at the pain the contact caused. He didn't move me far, only returning me to my place in the living room, and I lay back down, letting him pull the blanket over my form once more.

I lay there silently as he went back to the kitchen, returning soon after with a tray of soup, and the bottle of ointment, and placed it on the coffee table opposite, taking a seat there himself. He stared at me for a long time after that, his face blank of any emotion, and I gave up attempting to figure out what he was thinking.

"Why won't you just leave?" I whispered, afraid to make my voice any higher, the atmosphere was so tense, and I was so exhausted, to the point where the thought of not waking up from sleep appealed so much more than it usually did, "It's over Cato, just accept it."

"I don't want to."

His reply was quick, much faster than I had anticipated from him, but his voice sounded just as small, going into completely contrast with his now determined gaze and hard face.

"I want another chance."

"Oh? It didn't seem like that on the front cover of ever Capitol gossip magazine, your lips were more than pre-occupied."

He visibly winced at my biting words, but said nothing on it, no defence of excuse, no remark that he found it hurtful, and I knew exactly why. He was punishing himself by taking it all, he knew he deserved it, and I knew for a fact that I had every right to feel satisfied and smug about it. Only I didn't, nor did I feel any sadness or sympathy, I was jus tired, bitter, and bent on hating the world. I wanted to be left alone.

"Make sure you apply that ointment before you sleep," he breathed out, brushing off the nonexistent dust from the back of his jeans, "I'll be back tomorrow to check on you."

"No you fucking wont."

He didn't reply as he left, shrugging on his leather jacket and nodding awkwardly, before finally leaving, the soft click of the front door shutting behind me, and the familiar sound of a key was locking it from the outside. I scowled at that, he had no right to keep a key to _my_ home when he was no longer welcome, and I was sorely tempted to change the locks before he would burst his way in here again.

I hated him; I really and truly hated him. I hated him for his lies, I hated him for his betrayal, I hated him for all the promises he failed to keep … and I hated him for still sticking around when I wanted him to just disappear.

I softly sat back up, and stood, holding the blanket tightly wrapped around me, and moved back into the hallway, my duffel bag still lay by the foot of the stairs. Untouched by Cato, which let me breath out a small sigh of relief, and I sat down on the step. I slowly unzipped the bag, my hand rummaging through the creased together clothes, until my fingers reached a small rectangular box. Pulling it out I looked down at it, turning it over to read the inscription at the back of it, strands of red hair falling into my face as my pony tail was practically loose now.

"'easy to use' … yeah 'easy to use' my ass," I snorted out, opening the box and letting the small object slide out and into my hands.

I sighed once more, this time deep and tiredly, something that I had been doing far too much lately, and it would seem that I had many months to do that later on. The gravity of the situation hadn't fully hit me yet, mostly because I had ignored to my hearts content, to the point where I even had moments of completely forgetting about it. Only now that I was home, with an empty home and no busy schedule to keep me occupied in the Capitol, and now with Cato gone hopefully to not return, it was all I could think about.

That little glass transparent stick in my hands, glowing one colour, was funnily enough the biggest life changer I would ever receive. It beat Katniss Everdeen, it beat the growing rebellion, and it beat Cato's betrayal.

Because I, Faith Willows, was ironically enough, going to be a mother.

* * *

**Yeah so another bombshell, and another long chapter! They're pretty easy now since I'm writing a part that I've been looking forward to for AGES! Some of Cato's thoughts in there too, which funnily enough one of my beloved reviews mentioned they would like! **

**SPEAKING OF REVIEWS! I was genuinely astounded with the amount I received for that last chapter! It was a pleasant surprise, they just kept on coming and all were so lovely! I should write angst more often haha since I haven't had that many reviews since writing Faith's games! And picturing things in my head I should say that he rebellion officially starts in either the end of the next chapter or the one after that! Hope you all like what I have in store! **

**ILoafPeeta3: Sorry but this is the way things have to go for what I've got planned! Lots and lots more angst and sadness on the way! And thanks, I can't forget about Katniss, she's the reason we're all here today! She NEEDS to be in the rebellion!**

**Guest: Haha yes holy crap! And thank you! **

**Hazu23: I want to kill him too! Stupid douchebag! And tbh I ALWAYS hated Noelle, from the start since I knew what she was gonna do XD**

**Geranium08: Owwww I'm sorry for making you upset! And it's gonna stay pretty damn depressing until later on in the rebellion! Hope it doesn't put you off!**

**Belladonna007: I love some stories BECAUSE they're so heartbreaking, and yes I know typical guy to think its okay to use a shitty excuse to justify his actions! And thank you hope you liked this chapter!**

**xXRosexScorpiusXx: Where you? Most people had no idea XD Yes I know, you wouldn't think he'd ever be capable of such a thing! And faith is about to go through a whole lot more, and that sounds like a good idea! But Noelle has a nastier fate in store ;)**

**LuliCullen: Wow! That's the first long review I've ever had from you! It was really lovely to wake up too! And yes haha don't worry when I'm on a bus and reading ff I have to contain myself too! Thank you! And funnily enough that's where I drew inspiration from! I love I Am Legend, and the dinosaurs obviously came from Jurassic Park … which I love with a passion since I grew up with it XD … I always hated Noelle, mostly because I'm the writer and I knew what I was gonna do with her, so yeah! Haha thank you for your wonderful review! **

**PiecesInTheirGames: Ahhhh bby your reaction was the one I looked most forward too XD and thank you I didn't want to go into too much detail coz then I though that people would get bored, it's got the same basic outline of Katniss' time in the arena it's just a different environment and what not! And really? I didn't think so until people started saying it, mostly because Katniss contains her emotions while faith involuntarily is pretty open about hers! And I love her relationship with Haymitch, because they don't necessarily talk about the problems they have, they're just light support! I LOVED the idea of Cato recognising her, it was totally inspired by the dinner/banquet scene in Mr. and Mrs Smith XD OUR FAVOURITE FILM! Angst is the way forward my lovely! Love you and thank you for the beautiful review! :D **

**Bbymojo: As you asked for, more Finnick! It was originally going to be Haymitch but then I realised you lot hadn't seen Finnick in a while and took on board what you said! Thanks for that and hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**xxxRena: I'm sorry it made you cry! I didn't mean for it to But I am glad you find it so emotionally enthralling! And thank you, I just wanted people to get a brief idea of what was going on with Katniss since the rebellion is so near. And nope nothing will ever justify cheating, no matter how bad things are in a relationship! Awww thank you! That means so much! I'm sorry that I did leave you all waiting for so long but I'll try not to go weeks without updating again! And yes! I got it from the Iron Man 3 trailer! Total comic book hero geek! So I can't wait for the film!**

**Me: Thank you and I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry! Hope you liked this chapter and I love YOU as my reader! **

**Kurskin: Hey new reviewer! Ahhh the lyrics just felt so right, I listened to it for a few days as I planned how the chapter would go, and listened to it again while I wrote that specific ending scene! Yeah it was a real BAM moment when she said that, and yes he did, no matter how terrible he feels about it! And no worries about making it hard, there's going to be way too much going on anyway for her to even think about him! THANK YOU!**

**JustLyndsey: Haha I take it you've been reading it for a while then? I'm genuinely so surprised with how that chapter brought out so many new reviewers! And yes definitely, I think she needed to end it for her own sake and peace of mind, a sort of closure if you will! Awww thank you! I don't know what it is but with this particular story I've become so attached to writing it and connected with the protagonist! It's my baby! I hope you liked this chapter and the ones to come! Thank you for the review! **

**Kiralol101: You're essay worthy reviews always make my smile! And it's okay, the chapter before was appalling anyway! Thank you for the two reviews though! And yeah I just wanted Faith to believe in Katniss for her own personal reasons and what not in order to fully believe that the rebellion could work! Haha yes, gotta have the supplies exploded! It's such a monumental moment in the book and film! And I have a few Katniss/faith scenes planned in my head for the rebellion so don't worry about that ;) Yeah I think the cheating was just the tip of the iceberg, their relationship had been damaged before hand, and all the lies she said were getting to her, I think in the end the relationship just became mentally and emotionally draining for her, so maybe I think deep down she was sort of relieved? And no worries! STUDIES FIRST! My story will always be here waiting to be read (: thank you for the wonderful review my dear, it means a lot!**

**Guest: Hahaha thank you! I am trying to believe me. I have so many original ideas going on in my head at the moment! And sorry but they wont be together for a while **

**Guest: I never thought of it that way … Annie cresta and Katniss yes … but never Johanna, because she never truly pretended to be innocent, she was just a four brick wall on what she was capable of! And don't worry Noelle will get her ass bitten in the chapters to come! And thank you so much! It means an awful lot to me! And I am trying haha! **

**Ava Lockhearst: Yeah it is pretty sad, I was gutted to write it because there is no bigger Faito fan than me! Haha! And yes I got the idea from I Am Legend, I always use inspiration from films in my fics actually! Thanks for the review and hope you like this chapter! **

**Mt: thank you!**

**Guest: wow. I'm sorry it upset you so much, but I am glad you felt the emotional trauma in it! It makes me motivated to one day have my own books published! And not so a much a scene with him telling his mother, but they have a conversation about it! I hope that's good enough! Haha not a bad idea! We'll have to see! ;) thanks for the review!**

**AlexShah: Heyyyyy long time no see! And yeah I did take a break from writing this because I lost my mojo a little, but I'm back! And I'm glad you are too! Yeah the last chapter was pretty depressing! Definitely lots of drama between them! And Katniss will still be the beautiful mockingjay for the rebellion, Faith's just going to have her own part to play too! My own little story planned for that ;)**

**Esykan: haha babble away! I do it all the time! And yeah that quote is pretty true, lets hope they can work it out eventually! Thank you or reviewing! **

**SheilaCampos: welcome new reader! Always lovely to see new people are reading it and enjoy it! And thank you, I actually spent a few months planning this story beginning to end before I decided to publish it on here! So I know where this entire story is going :D thank you for your lovely review and hope you liked this chapter! **


	33. Away

"_We Talked About Our Future Like We Had A Clue, I Never Planned That One Day I'd Be Losing You, Should Have Told You What You Meant To Me, But Now I Pray The Price. In Another Life I Would Be Your Girl, We'd Keep All Our Promises, It'd Be Us Against The World. In Another Life I Would Make You Stay, So I Don't Have To Say You Were The One That Got Away." – Katy Perry; The One That Got Away._

* * *

"Thank you Faith, Ellie loves it."

I smiled in response to Ivy, her black hair pulled back in a low bun, pale blue apron on her as she watched Ellie play with the pink doll house I had gotten her for her third birthday, her friends crowding around her, others running across the room as they played tag. Various other women were scattered around the house, Ellie's third birthday had been made a big deal, since now she was old enough to understand the concept of birthday gifts, having friends for a party and enjoying cake. Ivy's hand rested on my shoulder for a brief moment, and we said nothing as I watched Ellie, her now shoulder length raven hair pulled into two pig tails, a cream spaghetti strapped dress that fell to her knees flowed around her as she sat on the floor.

I had actually gotten the present months ago, when Cato and I had still been together in fact, the doll house was limited edition, auctioned off at in the Capitol. Very much similar to the design of Greek housing, pillars and grey steps decorated the front, while the inside was made to look marble like. Her reaction was much more than I had hoped for, and I sat there fondly as I watched her, both hands resting absentmindedly on my abdomen.

The slight bulge was hidden, not that it would have been noticeable anyway, my nude coloured camisole flared around my stomach, it could easily be passed off as me eating too much. Which wouldn't have been far off from the truth, I knew about the cravings women would receive, and I had already experienced the wrath of morning sickness. It didn't dampen my mood though, in fact I was content, isolated in my home and away from the world, me and my small bump left to our own devices.

I had stuck to my word, and changed the locks early in the morning after Cato's unexpected visit. It didn't mean he didn't come every single day though, constantly knocking until I eventually invested in earplugs, tracking me down in town and following me, the man was simply not giving up. I didn't find it endearing, nor did I allow myself to become angry, I avoided it as best as I could. The pain was still there, and it always would be, I had given up trying to convince myself that it would eventually go away. It was like a sucker punch every time I saw him, the heaviness in my chest always feeling as painful as before, and I learnt to deal with the pain, make room for it even, because it was going nowhere.

If I hadn't been a people person before, then I certainly was now, forcing myself into attending Ellie's birthday out of guilt. I hadn't even spoken to Ivy in the last four months, I was afraid to, not because of what she might say, but because I knew her sympathetic look from anywhere and I didn't want it. I got it from Finnick, and Haymitch, and passing people from District Two who had so clearly known of me and Cato, and I was tired of the guilty look in Cato's blue eyes, because it _wouldn't change anything_.

The house phone had become a nuisance, and I knew exactly why, file after file had been sent from Catalina on new targets, and I had ignored them all. I eventually gave up on ignoring the ringing phone, and simply pulled the chord out, knowing that it could only buy me a short time. I was practically on edge waiting for her tight face to turn up, to see what had become of me, and it terrified me, because I knew Snow would enjoy this, enjoy trying to destroy me now that I had something more important than my own life to lose.

I knew I had always said that I didn't want kids, but it hadn't been because I didn't like them, or because I couldn't love them, this alone proved that it wasn't the case. I feared for them, for their likeliness of a short life, and for the pain it would bring when they were eventually taken from me, but if I had fallen pregnant I wasn't about to take its chances of living.

I still remembered first looking at that test, Karina had been with me, of course she had to be seeing as she was the one who purchased the test for me in the first place. If I had been caught buying a pregnancy test in The Capitol my life would have been over, and if there was anyone I trusted more than myself it was Karina. She was astounded of course, that I had gone almost three months without even realising, she even went as far as asking me if it was even Cato's, which I waved off easily, I had never been with anyone else but Cato.

I genuinely had no idea, the sickness being the only hint, and I had brushed that off as stress, from the anxiety of the nearing rebellion and the hell Cato had put me through. My periods had always been irregular, sometimes appearing twice in a month, and other times I went a while without it, this had meant to be one of those times, it should have been, but instead I wound up three months pregnant with a girl.

That had been the best part about the test, due to the Capitols miraculous technology, the glass stick was able to turn blue should you be pregnant with a boy, the obvious pink for a girl and a simple white if you were not pregnant at all. I had cried, naturally, seeing as it was the worst time to have fallen into this predicament, but it had been done, and it was my doing.

I was ignoring several things though, afraid of telling Ivy, afraid of telling Cato, mostly because I knew he would find this as his way to worm back into my life, and I didn't want that, not yet. It was selfish of me I knew, especially now that I was well on the way to being five months, I couldn't hide something like that for long, but I bid my time, and I was determined to tell him when I was ready.

I watched Ellie for a long time in silence, my thoughts of my little girl hopefully being able to live happily, I dream about it even, I dream that she would be able to live a free world, a world free of the Hunger Games and peacekeepers, I dream that she'll grow to become a good person, to know of nothing but love, to never feel the loss I had, and I dream that she won't walk the streets of District Two seeing children train with weapons, but of flowers blooming, and laughter in the air.

I shook my head of my thoughts, standing from the couch I sat on, so much for only stopping in for five minutes. Luckily Cato hadn't been here, Ivy cautiously mention

ing that he had popped out to collect Ellie's cake. I had barely been there for a half hour before I stood, my eyes scanning the living room to find Ivy, say goodbye and leave before Cato returned, I didn't want him breathing down my neck more than he already was. They connected with her own as she stood by the doorway, the hall leading down to the kitchen, and motioned with her head for me to follow. I did as I was told, weaving through random gossiping mothers and excusing myself quietly, the grey kitchen being the only empty room in the house, clearly off limits and Ivy prepared things in there.

I shut the door behind me and watched as she leaned against the counter, her pale fingers drumming against it softly, and watching me with the same piercing blue eyes as Cato.

"You know," she drawled out softly, eyes alight with barely hidden glee, "when I was pregnant with Cato, I used to rub my stomach a lot without even realising it … his father had noticed me doing it."

"That's … sweet."

"And the constant snacking … it reminds me of you today actually … usually you barely have an appetite."

She laughed softly, and as always it was beautiful, carefree and happy, portraying her beautiful personality as it always had. She sobered slightly when she caught site of my look, my green eyes never lingering on her for too long, my hands wringing together in front of me, and my constant fidgeting, which was due to the fact my jeans were becoming tighter, therefor becoming more uncomfortable.

"How far along are you?"

I averted my eyes, guilt washing over me at the fact I had tried so hard to hide it from someone who had so much belief in me.

"Almost five … probably around four and a half."

She sucked in a breath, walking over to me in quick strides and pulling me into a hug, her arms tightening around me and taking me completely off-guard, it took me several seconds to finally react, my hands wrapping around her waist and hugging just as tightly. We said nothing for a number of minutes, simply holding each other and welcoming all the support and maternal love she offered, drawing back slowly, her hands still connected.

"Honey, you've been dealing with this for so long on your own," tears prickled at my eyes, hearing how hurt she was hurt me immensely, only realising now the amount of love I felt for a mother who wasn't even mine, "you must be showing now."

I let her hands drift down to my abdomen, her hand caressing softly against my top, feeling the bump that lay there. Her face lit up uncontrollably, eyes positively glowing with excitement and love, both hands soon caressing it. Despite feeling awkward in the situation, I let remained silent, knowing how her thought process must be jumbled up right now. Her perception of things was remarkable, and I should have known that if anyone were to guess my predicament it would have been her, she did after all fall pregnant with Cato at a much younger age than me.

"You'll be fully showing by six," she commented, her hands still lingering on my stomach, "not huge but definitely showing … you can't hide it from him for long."

I looked up to her at that, my eyes glassy with unshed tears, one tear slowly falling down my cheek, lips trembling as I nodded. One hand went to my cheek, thumb wiping the tear away as Ivy looked to me sadly, I bit down on my lip to supress a sob, and I attempted to smile through it.

"I know," I whispered, "I'm just scared … this is all so much, and all at once."

"Things may seem bad now, and it is too much … too much for you to handle, especially with what's to come … you need him Faith, you need my son."

She meant the victory tour, in a month and a half the victory tour would begin, as would the rebellion. I was supposed to help in that, I was supposed to join whatever military squads they had and fight for the freedom everyone in Panem deserved. It wasn't about me anymore though, I found myself in the predicament of having to think of another life before my own … again. It scared the life out of me, I had failed the last time, with circumstances beyond my control, and it felt like it was going to happen, that gut wrenching feeling deep inside only worsened as the tour neared.

I did need Cato. I couldn't deny that, but it didn't mean that I wanted him there, nor was it good for me, or for him. We were over. I couldn't forgive him for this, and he knew it, so I couldn't understand why he was putting us both through the pain of trying. Now we had a bond keeping us together, a small bump with hands probably smaller than my thumb, and a body you could hold with one hand, something so small and incredible was mine.

"They seem scary now, and too big for you to handle, and just one big mess … but the two of you together can do anything."

I didn't get to respond, the familiar deep voice that was echoing down the hall caused me to jump away from Ivy, her hands moving back to her sides, and my hands flying to wipe the stray tears from my cheeks.

I stepped away from the door, further into the kitchen and stood there awkwardly as the door swung open, a large lilac cardboard box balanced in one of Cato's hands, his voice ragged and out of breath, like he had been running. He didn't seem to have made any effort for Ellie's birthday, dressed in his usual dark jeans and bland coloured shirts, his blonde hair thick and a mess, reigniting the urge for me to run my hands through it.

I resisted obviously, and instead quietly said goodbye Ivy, my eyes briefly meeting Cato's as I walked past him and back into the hallway. The front door had been left open for the party, children and mothers flying in and out, even though the weather had become considerably colder. It would begin snowing soon, I was sure of it, and it would be especially heavy in Two seeing as we lived in the mountains. I didn't get far, not that I was expecting too, Cato was a stubborn man, giving up didn't register in his mind. He looked as if he had dropped the box on the floor and had dashed after me, only I knew better than that, it was Ellie's cake and I almost wanted to laugh at the idea of him most likely thrusting it onto his mother.

"Stay," he said awkwardly, his eyes never leaving my face as I looked out into the street, the both of us standing by the doorframe, "please stay, you belong here."

"I have things to do."

"Don't lie to me."

He looked hurt, and in my moment of weakness I actually thought about complying, his gentle tone and soft look actually begun pulling on my heart strings. I suddenly craved to be near him, to have his presence around me like it usually would have been, and after that thought Noelle came into my mind. It was almost like a routine, only in my current state it hurt a lot more, and I cried more over it, more than what would be acceptable. My hormones were everywhere, and with my thoughts on a million and one things I was becoming overly stressed, having an inner battle and whether I should stick around with Cato wasn't helping.

"Please," he begged softly, his reaction to me causing to me to guess that the amount of stress I was under showed through my face, and ever so slightly, to the point where I didn't notice until it had happened, he took hold of my small hand, "Please Faith. Stay here with me."

For that split second, that lapse in judgment where I let his hand stay there, where I let our eyes focus on each other for too long, where I tuned out the laughter and music from the party, I actually felt a spark of normalcy. With it came the craving, the need to go back to normal, the happy feelings I had back then, the belonging and love I felt, the thought that maybe this could be fixed, the thought that maybe, just maybe, me and Cato could this together.

"Cato?"

Like I said; it had been a lapse in judgment. The calm and serene voice of Noelle was enough to prove that, to remind me of the amount of betrayal I felt, to the pain and self-torture I went through, to the pain of realising I had to do this on my own, and to the uncontrollable hate and resent I felt towards Cato for it all.

His head snapped to her, and mine soon followed, and she stood a few feet away from us on the pavement, a small square shaped box in her hand, gift wrapped. Instantly anger coursed through my veins and to the pits of my stomach, my green eyes glaring dangerously fierce into her brown ones, and ripped my hand from Cato's.

"You haven't been answering my calls …"

She took a step closer, her red ballet flats matching her black silk blouse, something so fancy for a toddler's birthday party, and it was clear why she had done it. Why her black hair was done neatly in an elegant bun, why her almond shaped eyes were covered in black eyeliner, because she wanted to appeal to him. Then there was me, being the stupid, over emotional and soft person I had allowed myself to become, and actually fell for the cheap words he had given me, when all along the even cheaper girl in front of me was bound to turn up any minute. After all the apologies, after the constant moans of how hard he would try for another chance, he had still invited her to this.

I didn't care if I was over reacting, Cato's family wasn't mine to be jealous about, but it was definitely _personal_. He had brought me home to his mother, I had bonded with her in ways I never thought I could have, I had grown to love his sister as if she were my own, and this common fucking slut, was invited here as if she wasn't sneaking around with the man I planned to spend the rest of my life with.

I didn't look at him then, as I laughed bitterly and left them both to stand there, hearing my name being called as Cato sped after me. He pulled on my elbow, and I yanked it back forcefully, ignoring the excuses that spilled from his mouth, the begs and pleads I had heard too many times in the last five months, and I was fucking cold in this top and thin jeans. I had planned on simply taking the gift, giving it to Ellie, wishing her a happy birthday and leaving.

"Let go of me," I seethed, pulling on my arm one more time before he released me, his eyes blinking in shock and just how volatile yet unnaturally quite my voice had become, "don't you dare touch me again."

I wanted to scream in frustration when I reached the sanctuary of my home, and I did just that, my hands running through my hair and pulling on it violently. I wanted to punch something, kick down a table, and scream at Cato until the words dried out. Only my home didn't seem to be _my_ sanctuary, and to be frank it never had been, it wasn't truly my home either, my home was miles away, in District Three, where I had once had a father and mother who loved me.

Catalina Break stood in the living room, purple eyebrows raised at my outburst, refraining from commenting as I walked further into the room. I didn't offer her a drink or to sit down, she wasn't welcome in my house and she knew it, so I wasn't going to waste time pretending that she was. I took a deep breath as I waited for her to eventually speak, knowing that this would have come sooner or later, and exhaled as my emotions began to calm down.

"So, it's been quite a large amount of time since you've visited the Capitol Faith."

"I've had a lot of things to deal with."

"Nothing as important as your service to our President I'm sure," she pressed, her eyes piercing into me as if I were an insect, tone acidic yet sickeningly polite, her purple bob perfect as always with her matching suit, hands by her side and perfectly still, "it is not wise to test the patience of Mr Snow Faith, I am sure you are aware of that."

"You're right. I am."

Her face remained blank, and the tension in the room caused the hair in the back of my neck to stand, and I swallowed down the lump in my throat, nervousness tugging at me from being in this volatile woman's presence.

"I'm afraid I can no longer work for you, or Mr Snow for that matter … I have other priorities now."

Her eyes moved down to where my hands moved purposefully, resting on my stomach and rubbing it there softly, and took a moment to register the meaning of my words. She smirked, a bone chilling satisfied smirk, and caught my eyes once more, her tone mocking as she began walking towards me.

"I see," she paused, taking more steps, "I believe a congratulations to you and Mr Valentine is in order, only I doubt his current conquest will not be too pleased with the news to come."

She knew exactly where to hit, and she hit it well, like a burning hot rod was placed onto my skin and causing me to scream in complete agony. Only I didn't, and attempted to keep my face straight as I blinked back tears, determined not to allow this woman the satisfaction of me breaking any more than I already had.

"I will inform Mr Snow of your … _delicate_ condition," she circled around me, like a predator circling its prey before an attack, and for the first time I was at a loss for what to do, the roles would have usually been reversed, there was once a time when not even death scared me, "It's such a shame too. You were a promising asset."

With that she had left, brushing past me and leaving not a trace of her behind, disappearing just like she had the many times before, almost as if she had never been here. A dreading feeling ran through my then, and my hands instinctively went to my stomach, a strong need to protect in me, because now things had gotten a lot worse, now Snow had the perfect leverage. He would take her from me, simply because he could, and I was not going to let that happen. We were running out of time, the victory tour suddenly feeling as if it were more than weeks away, and it scared me beyond belief that I could lose what now meant the most to me.

Something felt off, just as it had been from when I had awoken that morning, bright and the earliest I had been forced to wake up on this cold winters day, thanks to the ever cheerful Karina. The team arriving in large fur coats, moaning and bristling over how unacceptable the snow was for such an event, that the victory tour could not be as enjoyed as it should have in such terrible conditions.

I'd told myself that the storm of nerves I had was simply of the day, what was planned for it, the Hovercraft that was supposedly ready those involved the rebellion, Haymitch would be waiting for their signal of attack, and we would leave. It obviously wouldn't go down as easily as that, plans that included history changing wars never did, but it still astounded me how prepared Haymitch was. A man usually so pitiful and uncoordinated had single handily helped District 13 plan every inch of this, showing nothing but determination the entire way through, with a glass of brandy in his hand of course.

That morning I had spent time simply getting ready with Karina, they triplets chattering excitedly at possibly being able to meet Katniss and Peeta later on at the banquet. My thoughts lingered on Katniss for a number of hours, how I felt for her and the burden she now carried, yet still admired her strong character, not once had Haymitch said she doubted her capabilities as the Mockingjay or voiced her distaste for becoming a symbol of hope. She was what none of us could be, and even I couldn't deny my eagerness to meet her.

Ivy had been right, in my sixth month it was rather difficult to hide the bump that had formed, it in no way was unnaturally big, but as I already always been thin the bump was practically the size of a small beach ball. I felt her move around a lot; the rascal barely let me sleep at night, and I couldn't find it in me to ever complain as I was more than touched by the whole ordeal. For the first time, in a long time, I was happy, and she made me happy, the life growing inside me, something I could call mine, was bringing a smile to me every day. She wasn't going to have any of this, she was going to be happy, and free and believe in a better world.

Before her, when the idea of rebellion had been whispered between mentors I was ready in a completely different way, I was ready to die for the cause, ready to see all of Panem burn rather than see Snow win. Now I was ready in an entirely different, I was ready fight not just for Panem, but for the little bump inside of me to be able to have a mother, to be loved by her and to no nothing of pain, and for that I had to stay alive; something that would be a war in itself.

"Karina," I breathed out, startling her from packing up her make up into a small pack on my vanity table, "she's kicking again, come feel it."

A grins spread across her pink lips, and she all but bounced over to me, her hands flying to my stomach to feel the kicks, her grin turning into an open mouthed one as she felt it, her face glowing like a child on their birthday. I let her hands stay there, as I looked past her blonde head and into the mirror across from us, looking at my freshly cut hair. I rarely cut it, mostly because I couldn't be bothered, and it had always been one length, now the red locks I once had had been cut into layers, becoming thinner to be easier to tame, and Karina had added in full bangs.

It felt weird, for I had never had any form of bangs, but now I felt as if I looked different, older even, and I actually liked it. She had kept my make-up to a minimal, as I had always liked it, and simply applied thin black eyeliner and blush, my lips coated in a soft pink gloss, my green eyes standing out more from the eyeliner, clashing with my newly red bangs.

She had dressed me in dark blue jeans, tucked neatly into flat black knee high boots, and a dark blue top, my bump only just showing as the top flared out below my chest, purposefully done by Karina of course, and a leather jacket over it to keep out the cold. Though it was almost impossible to do that now seeing as the snow was becoming heavier, and therefore I added on a woolly scarf and gloves to it. With weather like this you would barely see me outside in the past month, except when needing to buy basic household things, and again made it easier to avoid Cato.

I had held it off long enough, and now with the rebellion starting, there was no way I could hide from him any longer. I knew I had to tell him now, the dilemma was just of when and where, it didn't feel like any time would be appropriate now and it didn't feel like there would be one anytime soon.

"Have you thought of a name?" I looked back to Karina, her blue eyes coated in silver eyeliner, glitter covering her lips, and a large fur hat on her head, she looked to be going for the animal fur look, which didn't look bad seeing the silver and white went with her blonde hair, it probably looked fantastic out in the snow.

I shook my head, saying nothing more, feeling her hands leave my stomach as we made our way downstairs, a car waiting outside to escort me to the town square, where the tour would begin, ending in a large banquet in the Justice Building. Everything was located in the Town square, from the training academy to the train station, all within a short walk of each other, and a landing strip for oncoming Hovercrafts above the Justice Building, made of stone pillars and large windows.

The truth was I had thought of a name, many actually, but for some reason I found myself refraining from telling her. Mostly because I thought it would be weird to, discussing names with her when I hadn't even done so with Cato or Ivy for that matter, who had surprisingly been extremely supportive with me, despite the fact I was hiding such a huge matter from her son. It didn't meant she didn't constantly try to coax me into it, softly at least, but never had she pressured me, or given me the ultimatum.

Now as I watched Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark – the star crossed lovers – make their speech on the stage, my foot tapped anxiously on the floor, my eyes darting to Cato every few minutes, and back to the stage, Haymitch sat on the other side, so I wasn't able to connect eyes with him. My nerves were at an all-time high, now, we were so unbelievably close, maybe even minutes, away and god I had never been so eager for anything in my life.

Standing up in my plastic chair to clap for Peeta, the loud beating rhythm of my heart was drowned out by the chorus of clapping. It all felt too surreal, as if everyone were waiting for something to happen, and as the Mayor of Two wrapped up the speeches people begun shuffling away, the banquet soon to begin. Or so District Two thought, my hands begun shaking at their sides, my breathing ragged and nervous, a pack already packed with as little belongings as I was permitted to have in order for the move to Thirteen.

Cato had done the same thing, as did his family, we were advised by Haymitch to do it months before the planned attack as a precaution. Now they all sat in a pile, along with Katniss Everdeen's, Peeta Mellark's and Haymitch Abernathy's, I wasn't sure whether Noelle was joining the trip, and as sadistic as the thought was I hoped she was caught in the crossfire.

"Stop that," Cato whispered, suddenly appearing beside me and grabbing onto my hand, "you couldn't be any more obvious."

I ignored him, and pulled my hand out of his, taking a step away from him as the town square cleared out, Haymitch now walking over with Katniss and Peeta in tow, their prep team trailing not far behind. I refused to look at Cato and focused on Katniss, Her fiery red dress stopped at her knees, black boots with it and a black fur coat, even then I wondered whether she was freezing or not. Her dark brown hair was done in her trademark braid, red rhinestones pinned into to make her hair stand out, the braid that everyone had become accustomed too, part of her small symbol of the Mockingjay, along with her pin.

"Peeta, My pin! My mockingjay pin! I left it in my room on the train!"

I could almost laugh at the irony of that, bringing it up as I had been thinking of it, and watched as she turned away from us without a second glance, attempting to head back to the trains literally across the square, the platforms visible from here. The justice building was place behind the small stage, important figures from Two already filtering in, and I watched as Peeta grabbed onto her arm.

He smiled so affectionately towards her, eyes glittering beautifully, his grip on her soft and assuring, blonde hair combed back and out of his face. His own black ocat was wrapped tightly around him, but I was sure that his team would have most likely dressed him in a black suit, some form of red decoration on it to match with his Girl on Fire.

"It's okay; you go ahead with the others … I'll go get it."

She tried protesting, only for Haymitch to grab her from the collar of her shirt, nodding Peeta off with a lazy grin, a peacekeeper trailing behind him, while Haymitch yanked on Katniss' collar and shuffled her towards us. He introduced us, my green eyes meeting hers, offering a small smile before she nodded back, her eyes glancing over Cato for merely a second before walking ahead of us and up the stone steps into the building.

"Thinks she's so special," Cato muttered, hovering over me as we followed, Noelle not far behind looking tacky as ever, black hair curled and a black fur coat over her little dress, purposefully complimenting the curves she had.

Cato had been dressed down for the occasion, much like I had and strangely enough I noticed he adorned similar dark blue and black clothing to me, causing me to glare at the back of Karina's head, knowing fully well that she had done this purposefully. He looked the calmest I had ever seen him, not even a spark of anger that he usually held in his eye, which was why I could tell he was most likely breaking down inside, probably just as nervous as I was.

People filed into the main hall of the Justice Builder, grey marble flooring and ceilings in the entire place, large chandelier hanging from the walls, various people heading to the long tables littered with glasses full of champagne and snacks, the dinner to be announced later, my eyes drifted among the people in the room, finding Haymitch's. His hand rose in the crowd, fingers spreading wide and winking at me, his face appearing playful and lazy, although his eyes portrayed the exact opposite, and I knew the meaning of his raised hand, appearing as a wave to anyone else, but to me was a signal of the time we had left.

Fine minutes. Five painful and slow minutes. Everything I had become accustomed to here would disappear, the war would begin and the entire country of Panem would change.

And Cato still had no idea of my condition.

My eyes drifted over to him, his own blue ones scanning the area, most likely keeping an eye on Ivy and Ellie himself, making sure to not lose complete sight of them, before he eventually sensed my gaze and turned to me. His eyes hopeful, as they had been for the past six months, as if I was going to confess that I had forgiven him, that all was well, and it made my chest hurt. We were far from that.

"I'm pregnant."

I blurted out, shocked with myself, how easy yet insensitive that had been, watching his face and eyes change into hundreds of different emotions, while his mouth opened and closed. It hadn't been how I pictured this unfolding, in fact the first time I originally ever imagined this happening we were still together, years down the line, no longer mentors and possibly ready for such a huge responsibility. Only it hadn't ended up like that either, the thought was bitter in my head, and only made me feel satisfied with the harsh way I had revealed so vital news to Cato.

For a moment he looked as if he were going to yell, his eyes darkening, and by habit my hands rubbed my stomach, causing a break in his concentration and build up to his yelling, blue eyes darting to that very spot.

His eyes shined like they never had before, especially when I tightened my shirt around me, revealing the exact size of my bump, most likely making him feel stupid for never noticing. Warmth spread from the pits of my stomach to my chest, for her looked at me in a way he never had before, the feeling and his eyes on me were so intense I found us inching closer, his hands reaching out to touch me.

It was almost like a gravitational pull, something I hadn't felt towards Cato in the longest time, something I had only just realised was special, that we were lucky to have.

So naturally, as with everything else I treasured, it was destroyed before it could ever begin.

And that was when the first bomb hit.

* * *

**Late with this I know, and I'm sorry for that but I've been pretty busy atm … life (which I don't usually have a lot of) is catching up XD but yes another long chapter… they're pouring out at the moment, the next one will probably be long too … you'll find a lot of time skips in my next chapters, so just a warning, and for the people who asked YES CATO IS THE FATHER, I hope the little explanation in the chapter clears things up for you all lol **

**Geranium08: haha glad to hear!**

**xXRoseScorpiusXx: where you really not expecting it?! Haha yes ironically they still do! And fightings going to be made a lot harder for them, wait until the next chapter though its going to CRAZAY! Haha hope it's not too much for you **

**ddroad72: If I'm honest I can't either, they're in no way mature enough to have that responsibility, even if they are going into their twenties! But yes LOADS of angst coming don't you worry ;)**

**LuliCullen: LET'S JUST BURN NOELLE ALREADY SHE'S GETTING ON MY NERVES. Right there with you sister, Star Wars is awesome, my dad shoved those movies down my throat! And Jurassic Park just 3333333333 and aww thank you! It certainly means a lot that you feel that way and I am so thankful! **

**Bbymojo: you're welcome and thank you for the suggestion I'm always happy to listen to my readers opinions and suggestions :D **

**xxxRena: The rebellion has started! With a bombshell dropped on Cato and the POSSIBILTY of things being worked out, although I don't like to make things easy, I'm an angst lover! And yes all in due time! Noelle will get whats coming to her! **

**Kurskin: Really? I genuinely thought people may see it coming XD That was actually a pretty good idea, only the plan I have for her drags out … A lot … and it's quite a sad storyline for her, but it will definitely be hard! Sorry I usually love taking on my readers ideas because they're all good! Thank you and I hope you liked this chapter!**

**Hazu23: Yes he'll be doing ANYTHING it takes to get her back! And she'll unintentionally make it hard … my answers have double meanings there ;) hahaha**

**PiecesInTheirGames: BBBY! Haha, I honestly thought you would, but I'm glad I shocked you :D and few, yeah I thought it would be good to show how other people are effected by it as well as them two, and Ivy was perfect for that! And I can't take credit for that line it was a Bob Marley quote that I WORSHIP because it's SO TRUEEE! Yeah was just like 'fuck outta here' and he was just like 'lol no deal wid it', that's why I love them! Love you too hunny! And thank you!**

**Esykan: Don't worry so did i! he definitely deserved it! And if I'm honest no one, it's hard to find red headed actresses, or actresses in general that suit her! Any suggestions? **

**Blondie: Yep, definitely nothing worse! Yes he is the father haha hope the chapter itself answers that for you! And I'm glad you feel the emotions coming through it, that's what I aim for! And haha didn't exactly happen as a fight but it was still a good revelation I hope! Listened to resentment, I love beyonce and it was a lovely song thank you for that suggestion!**

**Mt: Thank you! Haha she is rather complicated, or for lack of better words FUCKED UP! Hope you enjoyed this chapter my dear!**

**Sarah1595: Thank you I'm glad someone notices, I look back at old chapters and think "oh god what is wrong with me" haha sorry for the wait and hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Peacewithinchaos: I'm a lover of cliffhangers I am! They drive me crazy when I read them myself! LOTS of work to do to deserve faith definitely!**

**JustAPersonWithAPony: Do not worry at all, I'm just happy you review at all! And thank you, honestly when I look back at older chapters I cringe, some are awful! But thank you for your support and hope you like the chapter! And I can't take credit for that line from Finnick, It was a quote I used from Bob Marley, because I love the man so much with his wise words!**

**Guest: I'm all about the unexpected! Haha, I hope you understand what happened what 'Cato being the father or not' in this chapter, because lets face it it would only ever be him! **

**Sheliacampos: thank you I'm glad you think that! And if I'm honest I don't think she's capable of forgiving something like that, it would be more about trying to forget about it, not that I think she can do that either. Once trust is taken away it's extremely hard to get back! **

**AlexShah: Hahaha great minds think alike? Haha I think everyone's being hard on cato atm, and he certainly deserves it after all he's done! And thank you I've just been so eager to reach this part so it's such a relief! And count no more an update is here! **

**ArisuSnow: An update is here, and maybe not as teary like as the others, but definitely a gut wrencher, mostly due to the ending! And thank you I'm so happy that you think that! :D I shall try I promise! **


	34. Ash

"_I'm Waking Up To Ash And Dust, I Wipe My Brow And I Sweat My Rust, I'm Breathing In The Chemicals. This Is It The Apocalypse, I'm Waking Up, I Feel It In My Bones, Enough To Make My System Blow, Welcome To The New Age." - Imagine Dragons; Radioactive._

* * *

I gasped and bit back a scream, Cato's arm automatically encasing me to his chest as he ducked us down, multiple screams of fear and shock radiated through the hall. I looked up from under Cato, the opposite end of the hall had been reduced to rubble, the wall blasted open and glass shattered, people rushed around, some helping others and some unconscious on the floor. Cato shouted over to someone across the room, being drowned out by other people, and pulled me up a lot more delicately that he had when I was dragged down.

His hands remained on my shoulders tightly, steering my forward in the crowd, becoming further and further away from the front door, where people flocked out in mobs.

"That wasn't one of ours," I breathed out, looking to Cato momentarily as he cast me one look.

"They must have known … we gotta get out of here now … there's a hovercraft waiting for us on the roof."

I looked ahead of me, Haymitch and Katniss not far ahead of us, the first looking calm and ready, whereas Katniss seemed frantic as her eyes darted amongst the people around us. Another bomb hit, this time it sounded as if it happened outside of the Justice Building, the impact still causing a small quake in the ground, glass shattering from the windows.

Cato dragged us down once more, his eyes watching me carefully, eyes darting to my stomach, causing his arms to tighten around me. We stared at each other then; the both of us fearful, yet hardness took over blue and green eyes, knowing that there were important things that had to be done today. This was the beginning of something so important, something much bigger than us, something that could ensure a completely different and happy future for my little girl.

My arms tightened equally around him, for the first time in months being willing to be held in his embrace. One of my hands rested on the curve between his neck and shoulder, the other holding on tightly to his forearm, burying my head into his chest as another bomb hit, gun shots began sounding outside, meaning that a full blown fight had begun.

"We gotta move we can't stay here," I heard Cato yell, allowing him to pull me up, and running with him towards the hallway leading to the stairwell. Bits of rubble flew through the air as another pillar collapse, and I felt a sharp tug on my arm to pull me out of the way, colliding into Cato as I stumbled over my own feet. This was not what I signed up for.

Haymitch and Katniss were already making their way up the stairs when we reached them, Noelle far ahead of them as she headed up the stairs, only looking back and stilling as we reached them. Karina stood at the foot of the stone steps, a gash alongside her forehead, her hands reaching out to embrace me as we reached her, her eyes watering but face completely calm.

"Where's Drew?"

Her expression to the question I had asked was an answer in itself; lips trembled slightly before she withdrew from me, turning around as she moved past Haymitch and Katniss continuing up the stairs. The sounds of explosions never ceasing as Haymitch and Cato spoke quickly between themselves, and I took that time to wonder where Katniss' prep team must have been, whether they were caught or killed, or had gotten out with several out citizens from Two.

That was when another person entered my mind; Peeta. Peeta wasn't here, he clearly hadn't returned, and with the amount of explosions going on outside I doubted he would risk running through it alone.

"What about Peeta?" I asked, as we stopped on the stairs for a breather, and I leaned against Cato while catching my breath, taken by surprise when I felt his lips brush my left temple.

It didn't take that long for Katniss to go into a frenzy, Peeta's name had struck some chord and before I even knew it she was pushing past all of us, forcing her way down the steps once again, only for Cato to grab onto her arm and yank her backwards.

"Are you crazy? You're who they're looking for!"

"I can't leave him, he went back for me, I can't just leave!"

Their dislike for one other truly came out with every comment they screamed at each other, voices rising as Katniss fought more and more against his grip, my nerves grating on me with every explosion that overpowered their voices, this was not a time of argument. But it was true, we couldn't leave Peeta, he was equally important as Katniss, not to mention the terror on her face at the thought of leaving him.

"You can't force me to leave him!"

"Yes I can fire girl! Even if I have to drag you!"

"If you even think about it I'll tear your-"

"You're really not in the position t-"

"Shut up! I'll go!"

Cato's eyes snapped to me in anger, Katniss' in astonishment, it felt so strange to see her so emotional, she was always so self-composed, that to see her so worked up over one person hit home. She loved him. Whether she knew it or not didn't matter, but she did and she loved him from the pits of her heart. Right then was when I knew exactly how she felt.

"No you're fucking not."

"We don't have time to argue about this Cato, I'm going."

I brushed past the two on the stairs, hearing the thundering footsteps of Cato behind me, feeling his large hand grip onto my shoulder, turning me to face him and grip onto my upper arms.

"This isn't just about you anymore! I'm not gonna risk losing the both of you in a suicide mission!"

"It's not a suicide mission," I argued "you said it yourself everyone is looking for Katniss, and you have Ivy and Ellie waiting for you … we need Peeta."

"We can make do without!" He screamed, as he pulled harder on my arm, our faces inches apart, and as always when I was in such close proximity with Cato, the entire world faded away, only hearing the softness in his whispered voice, "I'm not losing you again … I just got you back."

My hands rested briefly on his neck, feeling his hands loosen from around me without realising, and I planted a kiss on the corner of his lips, drawing back to see that his eyes were closed, eyebrows creased in frustration.

"I'd go back for you."

I pulled out of his hold before I had finished my last words, dashing back down the stairs and ignoring his calls, my instincts kicking in, feeling so foreign to me, something I had once considered another limb to me now felt as if it were a stranger. And I ran, I ran faster than I had done in a long time, memories of me outrunning mutations in my games returning.

"Peeta!"

I yelled through the carriages, smoke encasing each and every room, the platform now a rubble mess, how I was supposed to get Peeta out of this I did not know. I had never been one for plans; improvisation was used a lot, even in my assassinations, because we all knew how much _they_ didn't go according to plan. I felt a constant assault of kicks within my abdomen, reminding me of just how dangerous this was, and that despite my thoughts on needing to save Peeta, it was a stupid idea.

But then I remembered Katniss' face, the anguish and fear in her voice as she thought he was being left behind, how powerful and how much I believed his words. Peeta was just as important as Katniss, and more important than me.

"Peeta, where are you?!"

I began to lightly jog down the hall of bedrooms, stopping in my tracks as I heard a chorus of footsteps from the carriage ahead, smoke so thick that I couldn't on my eyes to see them. Peacekeepers. They were crawling all over the place, whoever Snow had tortured information out of, and he tortured them good. He was ready for this.

I yelped as I was yanked by the collar of my jacket into one of the rooms, collapsing onto the floor on top of Peeta, watching as he scrambled on his knees to get the door closed. His blonde hair so bright that it stood out, and I coughed up some more as the smoke left a bitter taste of ash in my throat. His hand covered my mouth in attempt to silence the noise, shushing me softly, and as I looked up at his once clean face I notice his bruising cheek, dirt covering his left side, his face ashen as my coughing fit calmed down.

"They're everywhere," his whispered, his hand withdrawing as men shouted just outside the door, running past us completely, "they're looking for Katn- Katniss! Is she-"

"She's fine," I cut him off, "she's waiting on the hovercraft for us."

His shoulders sagged, a sigh of relief escaping him before his eyes focused me, his head tilting slightly in confusion.

"You came back for me?"

I nodded, and just as he opened his mouth to say more another bomb went off, much closer than I could have anticipated, to the point where I felt the vibrations of it, the train carriage rattling even.

A lot of things were going through my mind then, the rebellion, Katniss, Haymitch, Ivy and Ellie, my little girl, and the fact that the hovercraft wouldn't wait forever for Peeta and I. Grabbing onto his wrist I pulled us both up, neither of us needing to say anything as he opened the door, the both of us simultaneously taking in deep breaths as we left the room, my eyes squinting once more through the smoke, and headed down the direction I had come from.

There were few things I remembered after that, screaming and shouts of 'freeze' were yelled in our direction, and my mind went into autopilot mode, just as it had that last night in the arena, and I yanked onto Peeta's arm. Running back in the direction we came in and into the next cart, my hand yanked down forcibly on the metal handle of the carts door, successfully ripping it off, and ignored Peeta's wide eyes as I carried on.

I remembered hearing his voice, disbelieving and dazed as we continued to the end of the train carts, "how did you do that?"

I would have replied, only the current onslaught of smoke, and with the doors to the back of the trains final cart wide open instantly caused me to panic. I froze, feeling Peeta bump into me from behind and making us stumble. I didn't feel any pain in it, to be honest it was barely noticeable no matter how large the boy was.

I remembered dread, a whole tone of dread, and how the beating of my heart accelerated to a tremendous amount, as I had realised that I had walked right into their trap. The grenade was thrown into the hallway of our carriage, men shouting outside to get back, and I barely gave Peeta any time to understand the situation before I turned us around and pushed him back down the hall. The red light receptively flashing as the bleeping fastened its pace.

And then, all of the sudden, the train was jolting, feeling as if it had been blown off the tracks and half way into the air, my ears exploding as the entire cart was destroyed. I remembered being thrown backwards, my hands instinctively flying to my stomach, and I blacked out before I made any contact with the solid floor.

Pain, a lot of pain. That was registered first for me, the aching of my bones in my body, the hammering in my head, the feeling of my skin burning. My eyelids were red, something that happened when they were closed, light streaming in from an unknown source. I had no idea where I was, and I failed to remember many things, amidst the pain and confusion I struggled to open my eyes. Attempted to lay a palm on my forehead, only when I tried to nothing happened, my fist clenched, and I felt a burning sensation against my wrist as it wriggled around.

My wrists were bound.

That was when my eyes flew open, the pain of the bright white light hanging above my head causing them to shut back quickly. I blinked several times, green eyes taking several seconds to adjust to the light, a gasp escaping my lips as I finally expressed the amount of pain I was in.

I was laying down on a cold hard surface, I no longer wore my clothes, I had been changed into a plain white shirt and shorts. The fabric rough against my pale skin, and only able to move my head around slightly, I realised now that my ankles were bound as well as my wrists, tight white Velcro. Everything here seemed technologically advanced, the metal gurney I lay on. The white lights built into the white painted ceiling of the room.

I sucked in a breath, my face contorting into one of horror. They had got us, they had gotten to us, and Peeta. Peeta! Where was he?! Was he bound in some sort of medical room? Was he okay? Had they hurt him?

Millions of questions ran through my mind, flying between Peeta, Katniss, the battle beginning in District Two, _Cato._

I promised myself I'd return, I'd promised I'd bring Peeta and me back. I promised to keep my little girl safe.

A lump rose in my throat, chest aching and the pain in my head increasing as I fought to keep sobs down, I would die before I told them anything. But my daughter? Who was innocent in everything, and deserved more than anyone else a chance, was stuck here with me. It was my fault, it was my entire fault. I had done someone reckless, I had tried being a hero, I tried to save someone and it had gotten me stuck here.

In a white room containing touchscreen monitors surrounding the walls, glass trays surrounding me with tools, syringes, things I didn't want to know about.

"Please god, please," my soft beginning fell upon empty ears, for there was no god, I should have learnt that by now, no higher being who watched over me, no one was here now.

I lay there for what felt like hours, hearing the cameras situated in each corner of the room shift from left to right, wondering who was watching behind a screen on the other side. Whether there were a bunch of artificially enhanced scientists observing me at the back, and with each exaggerating scenario I became more terrified, because they didn't strap you into place inside a lab just for questioning.

The metal was so cold beneath my skin, and my bonds pressed into my wrists and ankles, and I was sure they'd leave a mark. My hair had been pulled back, brush and put into a tight low pony. It seemed when I was to be finally seen they requested me to look somewhat presentable.

I couldn't see my reflection, and from the impact of the bomb on the train I would have thought that I adorned multiple cuts and bruises, maybe even stains of ash. Of course, the capitol was all about perfection, so I had no doubt in my mind that they had rid me of those.

Only to inflict more scars and pain with my torture for what could be the remainder of my life. Both physical and metaphorical.

I let out a choked sob, not for myself, but for the life inside me. I had promised her so much, wanted so much for her, everything I stood for was so she could have a better life. What good was me fighting for it if she was gone?

I exhaled loudly, attempting to pull myself together. They would come, Cato, and Finnick and District 13. If not for me then at least for Peeta, Katniss wouldn't allow that, she would not allow Peeta to die. He couldn't. I just had to pray, pray that if they did something, it would be soon, because I knew for a fact whatever President Snow had planned for me would be beyond excruciating, and long enough if he enjoyed it.

My head perked up as far as it could, the distant sound of footsteps becoming louder. I couldn't see anything, but I more or less heard the sound of a door sliding open. The voices quietened, and without noticing who it was I felt a large hand rest on my head, smoothing my hair back.

It was meant to be a sign of affection, something a parent would do to a child, only as a shadow cast over me, white hair and penetrating, terrifying eyes made contact with mine did I know that it was taunting. When he spoke, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand, my body become numb, and my senses be filled with the smell of iron from his breath.

"I see you're finally awake Miss Willows."

I didn't reply, and I didn't think I really had it in me to reply, that hard edge I once had in me, the edge where I was unafraid of the consequences of my actions and spoke without really thinking it through, that was gone. That was someone who spoke because they had nothing to lose, knew that there was no way to be hurt if they had already taken everything. But now they did, now more than ever in fact I had too much to lose, and he knew it.

That small knowing grin of his said it all; an old man with pure white eye, and steely eyes had the power to destroy every single person in this country.

"It is such a shame to be reunited under these circumstances."

I stared at him for a long time, biting down on my tongue, forcing myself to not reply, I couldn't afford to. He was looking for a reason to move on to the torture.

"A rebellion is very damaging, is it not Miss Willows? Not just for the opposing side, but for their own followers also, blinded by hope and false promises, they lose more than they would should they abide by rules."

He moved away from me, his hands coming to join around his back as he paced the small room, and it was only then I noticed another occupant. A man, not as old as Snow, but with greying hair and dark eyes, large framed glasses and stood with a hunch, almost as if he had spent most of his life looking to the floor.

His persona was the opposite of Snow's, not one of confidence or vindictiveness, in face he appeared to be soft, fearful even, and only connected with my eyes for a second before returning to the floor.

Of course I had learned long ago that appearances could be deceiving, I had learnt that the hard way.

"But, that is a conversation I shall reserve for another day … I am here for an entirely different, far more interesting subject dear."

My focus snapped back to him once more, my heart beat speeding up the slightest bit, nervousness eating away at me as I painfully waited for his next words.

"This here is Doctor Shaw, a man who I believe, worked with your father for many yes."

The colour drained from my face as each word left his mouth, I felt completely exposed, bare in both the clothing I wore and how I was strapped to this metal tray without no way of defending myself. No way of running. Doctor Shaw, as Snow had called him, seemed to find it harder than he had before to raise his head from the ground.

My breath hitched in my throat to the grin on Snow's face, a grin so sadistic and terrifying that I couldn't help but let out the soft whimper from my lips. The tears that stung behind my eyelids took an enormous amount of strength to hold back, I felt as if this was already over.

"In fact, Doctor Shaw is extremely familiar with your father's last project. Until now, he had no way of expanding on the research, simply because there were no traces left by your father."

He stopped to clear his throat, a white handkerchief, smeared with blotches of blood emerged from his pocket, and dabbed his mouth with it briefly.

"You see Miss Willow's, you're fathers remarkable work is a scientific breakthrough, one that would benefit our world dramatically. Think of how unstoppable our armies could be, how far less casualties there would be should the men who sacrifice their lives could protect us. It guarantees such wonderful prospects."

The heavy weight in my chest only increased, worsening as if another brick was placed on top of another. He was dancing around the subject, touching on it and playing only to torment me, and he was enjoying it to no end. It made me feel sick, along with the thick ball in my throat it felt as if bile was rising, and my mouth was too dry to be able to swallow it down.

"It came to my attention long ago Miss Willows, in fact when you entered the games that not all traces of this had disappeared. Your father had cleverly devised a plan, one that had been successful, a man so poisoned in his mind by those of the rebellion that he did not stop to think of the wonder he had created."

"No," I breathed out, a single tear finally set free from my eyes as I stared at him in fear, watching as his snake-like gaze on me increased, his tone losing all softness in it, "you can't do this."

"Yes Miss Willows, I know of what you are."

A chocked sob escaped my lips, and I closed my eyes, a single imagine of Cato forming itself there, the blueness of his eyes, and his arrogant smirk imprinting itself into my mind.

"Rest assured, I will get what I want Miss Willows, whether you give it to me willingly … or by force."

I would die. I would die before I ever gave him anything, and with that thought the ache in my chest for my unborn child and my love for a man so far away from me worsened.

But I would die, because my father had done the exact same thing, because he knew what he had created was something that should not have been done. I was trusted with never letting this get out, that I was the exception. At the age of ten my father had entrusted me with abilities that shouldn't be logically possible. Strength, speed, senses. All enhanced and all the perfect ingredients to make a super soldier.

And I would die; I would die because in the hands of a monster, it would bring nothing but destruction.

But I loved him. I loved him, I loved him, I loved him, I loved him. A man who had stolen my heart, who had understood me more perfectly than anyone else could, and I had wasted time. Wasted time on small things and distancing myself, when I could have enjoyed the remainder of our life together. I felt as if I couldn't say it enough.

I still, and always would, love him.

* * *

**This has been LONGGGGGGGGG overdue, and I sincerely apologize for that, but I won't lie to you I am truly not loving this story as much as I once did, I also can't promise when the next chapter will be. Hopefully soon, because I don't want to be cruel and keep you hanging on what's going on right now. **

**I have other projects I'm working on, actually it's an original story that's going to be published in electronic format! So for those of you who have kindles, tablets, etc. it'll be your kind of thing! It's what I dedicate most of my time to, but I promise you one way or another this story WILL be finished, actually I hope for it to be finished before the release of Catching Fire! **

**Anyway, again I sincerely apologize, and I hope you can forgive me!**


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